NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 3, 2008) - Last season the ETSU softball team piled up 48 runs on 47 hits against the conference rivals from Nashville and this weekend the Lady Bucs could use some of that offensive explosion to get themselves back in the Atlantic Sun race when they travel to the Music City. Should the rains hold off, ETSU will begin its two-day, four-game trip with Lipscomb Friday evening at 6 p.m. EST from Draper Diamond. However, local weather forecasts are predicting over two inches of rain in Nashville tomorrow, but the teams are going to wait until Friday afternoon to decide if they need to reschedule the series.

The Softball Bucs have lost six straight games but have shown some signs of busting out of this slump last night at Tennessee. ETSU went toe-to-toe with the 12^th ranked Lady Vols in game one, but Tiffany Huff's two-out RBI single to left lifted UT to a 4-3 victory from the Lee Softball Stadium. Sophomore utility star Katy Jett (Talbott, Tenn.) recorded her 10^th multi-hit game of the season with her 2-for-4 performance in the opener and senior Amanda Haverman (Kirkwood, Mo.) posted her first multi-RBI game in 2008 when her single to left tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth.

Despite standing 16-24, 3-7 in the conference, ETSU still holds the No. 5 seed in next month's Atlantic Sun Tournament. However, a big weekend in Nashville could propel the Lady Buccaneers up the standings and gain some much-needed momentum down the stretch run. Haverman and Jett along with third baseman Jessie Hackworth (Clinton, Tenn.) feasted on Lipscomb's pitching last year. The trio combined to hit .611 (11-18) with three doubles, five runs scored and eight RBIs. Hackworth was a perfect 6-for-6 with a run scored and four driven in against the Lady Bisons and Haverman went 3-for-6 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. Jett gave Belmont and Lipscomb's pitching staff troubles as she finished the weekend 7-for-13 (.538) with a double, triple, five RBIs and seven runs scored.

Lipscomb enters play 15-20, 6-4 in the conference and has two of the leagues top-10 hitters. Sophomore infielder Kellie Sirus ranks seventh with her .377 batting average and fellow sophomore Abby Keese is 10^th as she is batting .367. Keese is also tied for fifth with 10 home runs and ranks sixth in slugging percentage (.706). The Lady Bisons have been fueled by their hitting, because Lipscomb's pitching staff ranks last with a team ERA of 4.20.