Austin, Texas – The Concordia University Texas softball team will continue a brutal stretch in its schedule when it visits Southwestern for a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. The Pirates will be the Tornados' second of four consecutive opponents that competed in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. A live audio broadcast will be available with Sports Information Director Matthew Chmura calling all of the action.

Concordia (4-2) was most recently swept in a twinbill by Mississippi College on Monday afternoon, falling by scores of 7-1 and 3-1 after starting the spring with four straight victories over Trinity. The Tornados, who have registered three come-from-behind victories, have relied on a deep lineup and pitching staff for success in the early going. Six regulars are batting over .333, while three pitchers have registered at least one victory on the young season. Senior shortstop Jessica Rattan, who was named the American Southwest Conference West Division Hitter of the Week on Tuesday, has paced the balanced offense so far. She is hitting .500 and has a 1.143 slugging percentage by posting five of her seven hits for extra bases. Rattan has also driven in six runs and scored eight times. Junior catcher Alex Smith, a transfer from Hill Junior College, has started every game behind the plate. She is batting .389 after scattering three hits against Mississippi College on Monday. Defensively, she has gunned down a league-best five runners attempting to steal. Sophomore corner infielders Erin Duhon and Meghan Ferrell have driven in five runs apiece while batting .429 and .389, respectively. In the circle, sophomore Kat Moreno has emerged as the team's ace in the early going. She has a 2-1 record and a 2.10 earned run average with 19 strikeouts in 20 innings of work. Classmate Teshia Krause enters the doubleheader having hurled 8.1 scoreless innings of relief. Opponents are only hitting .212 against the sophomore.

Southwestern (3-5), which was ranked 23rd in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll last spring, began its 2011 campaign with high expectations after winning its first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship and advancing to the NCAAs a year ago. But the Pirates, who were among the teams receiving votes in the preseason national poll, have stumbled out of the gates and enter the twinbill against Concordia as winners of only three of their first eight games against ASC competition. A big reason for the squad's struggles has been a lack of offense, as Southwestern is only hitting .215 as a team. Junior outfielder Kaitlyn Pavlicek is hitting .381 and has driven in three runs on eight hits, including three for extra bases to pace the weak offense. She is the only Pirate player batting over .300 so far. Junior Taylor Turbin, who has a .286 batting average and was honorably mentioned for All-SCAC honors in 2010, has also added eight hits on singles. Hurler Lauren Zearfross, a transfer from Tarleton State, has been team's biggest bright spot so far with an eye-opening 0.77 ERA to go along with a 3-1 ledger. She also has 24 strikeouts against only eight walks in 23.1 innings of work while holding opponents to a .157 batting average. Zearfross was named the SCAC Pitcher of the Week on Wednesday.

Game Information (Saturday, Feb. 26)
12:50 p.m. Pregame
1:00 p.m. Concordia vs. Southwestern (Game One)
*3:00 p.m. Concordia vs. Southwestern (Game Two)

*Time approximate

Click Here to Listen Live!