4-seeded Jags open RRAC Tournament vs. TAMUSA

Things have set up ideally for UHV softball ahead of its quest for a seventh conference championship Thursday's Red River Athletic Conference Tournament opener.

Winners of eight straight, the Jaguars (27-19, 19-9) are doing exactly what head coach Lindsey Ortiz wants – playing their best softball at tournament time.

They'll put that streak on the line at 9:30 a.m. at Louisiana Christian's Wildcat Park in Pineville, Louisiana, as the tournament's No. 4 seed vs. Texas A&M-San Antonio.

"You always want to play your best ball going into the postseason," Ortiz said. "We've talked about that all year long. So, for them to be riding this streak and those wins to have come in all different fashions – come-from-behind and blowout wins – shows they've been able to execute in a variety of different ways. I think that gives them a lot of confidence going into the tournament. I'm excited to see them continue to ride that momentum."

Over the course of the eight-game streak, UHV is hitting .344 with six players hitting over .380 and averaging eight runs per game.

At the forefront of the Jaguars' offensive surge over the last three weeks of the season is senior Claire Blinka.

The Port Lavaca native is on a seven-game hitting streak, hitting .536 with 11 RBIs, four doubles and four home runs over that span. She's homered in each of the last four games for UHV from the one-hole in the lineup.

Ortiz believes Blinka's helped create contagious hitting throughout UHV's lineup with Fayth Hoover hitting .643 during this streak. Hoover and Jayce Bolin, who hit her first home run of the season in Saturday's 8-1 win over Huston-Tillotson, have each driven in seven runs during this run for the Jaguars.

"She just makes you feel good to start a game," Ortiz said of Blinka. "When the game starts and she's the one walking up to the plate, you can't help but be excited and want to see what she does with it. I think we feed off that energy and get excited. Recently, we've done a good job of maintaining that energy after her at-bat is done and kind of keep passing the bat along.

"I'm super excited for Jayce. She's a kid that truthfully just worked her way through her struggles and continued to give 3,000,000%. Then she got her next opportunity and capitalized, and she's been a mainstay ever since."

As UHV swept Huston-Tillotson, 6-1 and 8-1, last Saturday, the pitching staff of Audrie Sayas, Alexi Wade, Jocelyne Galvan, Hope Quinones and Aracely Guzman displayed superb control.

Sayas earned her 11^th win of the season and first RRAC Pitcher of the Week nod after hurling five shutout innings against the Rams, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out five.

She and Quinones have each eclipsed the 10-win mark this season.

"I think we have the deepest staff in the conference," Ortiz said. "I think there's legitimately five of them we can really rely on and utilize in specific scenarios. So, the way they've fully bought into the process and trust each other, they want to be a staff. They want to attack offenses and keep them off balance by utilizing each other. When you're talking about the top teams in our conference, we've faced their aces and know what to expect in those matchups. I don't think that's necessarily the case for teams looking at us."

Thursday's meeting will be the fifth between the two Jaguar sides with UHV sweeping the regular season series 1-0, 8-3, 1-0 and 9-7. It's also the second consecutive season in which the two have met in the opening round of the conference tournament with UHV winning 7-1 a year ago.

Ortiz is confident her team will be ready for anything, especially after having to rally from a 6-0 deficit for a 13-8 win against the University of the Southwest on April 18.

"In that Southwest game, we had a conversation that you have to play like it's the tournament because a situation like that is possible," Ortiz said. "They responded immediately and were able to trust in themselves and the process. They know what they're capable of and I think they have the right mindset going into the tournament."

The winner will advance to face the winner of the Our Lady of the Lake-Southwest contest in the winner's bracket at 9 a.m. Friday at LCU while the loser faces the OLLU-USW loser in an elimination game at 9 a.m. at LSU Alexandria.

A watch party for the game will be held in the University Commons Multipurpose Room on campus at 3007 N. Ben Wilson St. and is open to the public.