KENNESAW, Ga. - The IUPUI softball team continues its season on the road at the Kennesaw State Classic this weekend, Feb. 15 and 16. 

The tournament will include a double-header on Saturday and another on Sunday.  The Jaguars open up play on Saturday against Ball State at 10:30 a.m. followed by tournament host Kennesaw State at 3:30 p.m., and on Sunday the tournament will conclude with games against Alabama-Birmingham at 10:30 a.m. and Liberty at 1 p.m.  All game times are Eastern Time. 
 
The Jags hope to improve upon its 3-2 start last weekend at the Mercer Invitational where it picked up two wins against Alabama State and a 10-4 victory in eight innings against Mercer. 

”We hit the ball well,” Coach Amanda Rivera said.  “There were little things here and there we need to work on, but we didn’t give up.  We kept fighting.  If we keep doing that all year, we’re going to be successful.”
 
Junior Jessica Lam heads into the weekend hoping to continue her hitting hot streak.  Lam tallied four homeruns, 10 RBIs in the Jags' five games and was named Summit League Player of the Week following the tournament. 
 
“She’s [Lam] put the work in,” Rivera said.  “She’s always asking for extra.  She’ll be in the cage all by herself sometimes.” 
 
Lindsey Richards (7) and Jazmine Pedrotti (5) also contributed offensively with a combined 12 RBIs.  Both Richards and Pedrotti homered over the weekend.  Currently six Jags are hitting over .400.
 
Leading IUPUI in the circle is Jocelyn Oppenhuis with a 1-1 record and 3.18 ERA.  Oppenhuis recorded seven strikeouts in her 5.2 innings of play. 
 
Lam, Oppenhuis and Richards were also all named to the Mercer Invitational All-Tournament team. 
 
Of the 289 teams listed in the NCAA Women’s Softball RPI, UAB (44), Ball State (67) and Kennesaw State (75) all rate in the top 100.
 
UAB enters the weekend 3-2, picking up a win against No. 20 Hawaii and dropping two games to No. 18 Washington at the Paradise Softball Classic in Honolulu. 
 
Kennesaw State owns a perfect 5-0 record.  Owls’ pitcher Amanda Henderson is averaging 1.23 strikeouts per inning in her 26 total.  Angie Dascoli, Sarah Sikes and Sharon Swanson lead Kennesaw’s offense.  Dascoli, Swanson and Sikes account for 14 of the teams 32 runs scored and are responsible for 19 of the Owls’ 49 hits.  Together they are hitting .382.
 
Both Liberty and Ball State will open its seasons this weekend.