CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina softball team (30-14, 7-8 Sun Belt) will hit the road to face Southern Miss in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series in Hattiesburg, Miss. The Chants will be looking to improve on their 3-5 away record during this weekend's action, April 21-23.
 
Lookin' Back

• The Chants dropped their last three-game Sun Belt Conference series, 2-1, to the Marshall Thundering Herd last weekend after taking an early lead in the series.
• CCU won game one 4-3, then went on to suffer a 5-3 loss and a 3-2 defeat to the Herd in games two and three.
• Freshman Libby Pippin crushed a single on her first at-bat as a Chanticleer.
• Fellow freshman Delaney Keith went a perfect 2-for-2, hammering her ninth home run of the season and crushing an RBI single in the game one win. Keith also put in a strong performance during game two, where she went 3-for-4 and recorded an RBI single.
• Diamond Williams smashed her seventh leadoff home run of the season in game two, marking her team-leading 12th of the season which ranks her 24th in the NCAA statistical rankings.
• Coastal rallied back from a 2-0 deficit during game two to tie up the game with the help of an RBI double from Iyanla De Jesus and a one-run single by Indya Smith. However, the Herd pulled ahead to take the win 5-3 in the final inning.
• Nicolette Picone picked up her eighth win of the season on Friday, April 14, recording three strikeouts and giving up two hits in her 2.0 shutout innings of work in the circle.

 
Scouting the Opponent

• Southern Miss has posted a 19-17 overall record and is 3-11 in Sun Belt Conference play.
• The Golden Eagles won their first conference series last weekend when they swept ULM.
• Southern Miss has been swept in Sun Belt Conference play by Louisiana, Marshall, Troy, and Texas State.
• The Golden Eagles are currently ranked 11th in the conference and the Chants are sitting in sixth place in the regular-season standings.
• Sophomore Jana Lee leads the team with a .389 batting average and has recorded five home runs, four doubles, one triple, and 23 RBIs on the season.
• Morgan Leinstock is the starting pitcher for the Golden Eagles and has posted a 2.60 ERA while going 10-11 in the circle. The senior has recorded 150 strikeouts this year, which ranks her fifth in the Sun Belt and 23rd in the NCAA.
• CCU will need to look out for Lorna Agren who is 14-14 in stolen base attempts, which ranks her ninth in the conference.
• Southern Miss is last in the Sun Belt for runs, hits, doubles, RBIs, and total bases.

 
History Against

• CCU has played Southern Miss just two times in its history and has posted a 2-0 record.
• This will be Coastal's first conference game against the Golden Eagles, who are a new addition to the Sun Belt after joining from Conference USA in July 2022.
• Each of the previous matchups were played at neutral sites and CCU prevailed, 8-6 (March 2005) and 7-5 (March 2007).

 
For complete coverage of CCU softball, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalSoftball (Twitter), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.