Troy softball opens Sun Belt tourney with UT-Arlington

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MOBILE, Ala. (troytrojans.com) – The Troy softball team clinched the No. 6 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and will face No. 7 UT Arlington on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. at Jaguar Field.

Troy (30-23, 11-13 Sun Belt) is being led offensively by Kate Benton and Hannah Day. Benton is the most consistent Trojan at the plate and she posts a team-high .417 batting average and 73 hits. She leads the Sun Belt with 40 stolen bases and with 52 runs scored.

Day leads the team, Sun Belt and ranks 6^th nationally with 64 RBIs. Her 16 home runs, 12 doubles and .704 slugging percentage are all team-highs.

Claire Graves and Ashley Rainey continue to lead the Trojan’s pitching staff. Rainey has recorded an ERA of 3.85 and has pitched four complete games. She has racked up 53 strikeouts in 136.1 innings pitched. Graves posts a 4.10 ERA in 102.1 innings pitched, has 47 strikeouts on the season and has only walked 48 batters.

UT Arlington (29-19, 8-16 Sun Belt) enters the matchup after falling to Texas State 0-3 in a three-game series and sit in seventh place in the Sun Belt standings.

Sandra Mendoza leads the way offensively for the Mavericks. She has an impressive .469 batting average on the season and has crossed the plate 35 times. She has 76 hits, 15 doubles and 39 RBI to add to her impressive resume.

Samantha Clakley leads the Maverick’s pitching staff with a 3.11 ERA. She has recorded 129 strikeouts and has given up 204 hits and 103 runs in 191.1 innings of work.

The all-time series with UT Arlington is tied 5-5 after Troy’s regular season meeting with them. The Trojans took two of the three games in the series at Allan Saxe Field in Arlington, Texas.