The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
South Dakota
Zips Travel to Furman For Four Games This Weekend
March 01 | Softball
AKRON, Ohio – The Akron softball teams heads to Greenville, S.C., to battle the host Furman Paladins and the University of South Dakota Coyotes this Saturday and Sunday in the Paldin Classic.
WHAT'S AHEAD
The Zips start Saturday with a battle against South Dakota at 11:30 a.m. before facing Furman at 2 p.m. Sunday sees the Blue and Gold face the Coyotes at 10 a.m. and Furman at 3 p.m to conclude action.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
March 2 - South Dakota: | Stats | Furman: | Stats
March 3 - South Dakota: | Stats | Furman: Video | Stats
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Against Furman
Akron Leads 5-3
First Meeting: Furman 2 – Akron 1 (March 26, Tallahassee, Fla.)
Last Meeting: Furman 4 – Akron 0 (February 21, Greenville, S.C.)
Against South Dakota
Akron Leads 2-0
First Meeting: Akron 5 – South Dakota 1 (March 9, 2013, Kissimmee, Fla.)
Last Meeting: Akron 16 – South Dakota 6 (6 inn.) (Feb. 14, 2020, Madeira Beach, Fla.)
SCOUTING REPORT
Furman
The Paladins come into the tournament with a 9-5 record after going 1-3 at the Battle at the Beach in Conway, S.C. Furman started with a 13-8 win over Louisville before falling twice to Bowling Green and host Coastal Carolina.
Furman is 3-1 at home, 5-1 at neutral site contests, and 1-3 on the road.
Ashlee Lykins leads the Paladins in batting average with a .362 average, 14 runs, 17 hits, two triples, and 2 RBI. Kiley Perry is second on the squad with 14 hits along with three doubles, one triple, three home runs, and 15 RBI.
Sierra Tufts leads Furman with a 5-1 record and a 2.40 ERA. Tufts has two complete games and 35 innings of work with 21 strikeouts. Laurlee Scott is 2-0 in seven appearances and one start. She's thrown 18.2 innings with five earned runs.
South Dakota
The Coyotes are 8-7 on the season and have won their last three. South Dakota went 4-1 in the Lion Invitational hosted by Texas A&M-Commerce. SDU won a pair of games against Tarleton State while picking up wins against A&M-Commerce and Tarleton.
Gabby Moser and Delany White are leading SDU with 13 hits while Tatum Villotta and Autum Iversen have four doubles each. Five Coyotes are tied for the lead in home runs with one each. Moser also leads the way with 11 RBI.
Clara Edwards is 3-5 in nine starts with an ERA of 1.77 and 48 strikeouts in four complete games. In 51.1 innings she's thrown two shutouts.
McKenna Young had thrown 17.2 innings in seven appearances and two starts. She has a 1.98 ERA and 20 strikeouts.
Kori Wedeking has gone 2-1 in six appearances and four starts with one save. In 24 innings she's struck out 24 with an ERA of 2.63.
ZIPS AT A GLANCE
Under second-year head coach Craig Nicholson, the Zips return 10 players from the 2023 squad and added 12 newcomers to the 2024 roster. The Zips started the 2024 season with a 1-3 showing at the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament, defeating Middle Tennessee (2-1) before Florida Gulf Coast (2-0 and 4-1) and Delawar (13-12 in eight innings). The following weekend, the Zips defeated USC Upstate (7-5) and Fell to No. 13 Kentucky (7-5 and 7-3) as well as Monmouth (3-2 and 6-2) at the USC Upstate Tournament. Akron is led by Meagan Lee with a .321 batting average and tied for the lead in total hits with Alexis Campbell. Two players have two homeruns each in Kalli Macintosh-Houlder and Sophia Wygast. Wygast leads the team with seven RBI. In the circle, Haley Croyle leads the squad with six appearances and three starts with one complete game and 22.3 innings of work. She has struckout a team-high 13 batters.
MAC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
The Zips were picked to finish 5th in the 2024 MAC Preseason Poll, which was released by the conference on February 2. Miami was picked to finish first with six first-place votes, while the RedHawks were also slated to win the MAC Tournament with five votes.
(First Place Votes)
1. Miami (6) – 95 points
2. Ohio (3) – 91 points
3. Central Michigan (1) – 84 points
4. Ball State – 69 points
5. Akron (1) – 64 points
6. Northern Illinois – 53 points
7. Toledo – 48 points
8. Kent State – 39 points
T9. Buffalo – 25 points
T9. Western Michigan – 25 points
11. Bowling Green – 12 points
MAC Tournament Champion: Miami (5), Ohio (3), Central Michigan (2), Akron (1)
ON DECK
Akron travels to Clarksville, Tenn., to compete in the Austin Peay Tournament where the Zips will face Rhode Island, Bradley, and Austin Peay.
