ANDERSON, S.C. - After a 13-day layoff due to insurmountable weather conditions throughout the region, the Anderson University softball team is slated to host Johnson C. Smith on Friday, then open a four-game road swing through the Peach State with a twin bill at Clark Atlanta on Saturday afternoon.

Following the meeting with the Lady Panthers in Atlanta, the Trojans will swing north to visit Young Harris for their sixth game in three days on Sunday afternoon.

The Trojans
In its most recent action on the diamond, Anderson swept Conference Carolinas-foe Emmanuel College by scores of 12-1 and 9-1 on Feb. 13, and has won seven of its last games, including four by run-rule decisions.

Freshman Cailah Niles, who is leading the Trojans offensively, was named the AstroTurf South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week following her performance against the Lions. The 5-foot-7 catcher was a perfect 6-for-6 at the plate, belting three home runs, a double and a pair of singles while driving in nine runs and posting a 2.667 slugging percentage, as Anderson improved to 11-3 on the season.

Senior Bri Cason hammered a pair of home runs and was 4-for-6 on the afternoon, while driving in six runs and scoring three times. Fellow senior Jessica Neidigh added three hits, including a double, in the twin bill.

Sophomore hurlers Augie Pena (5-0) and Lauren Rudesheim (4-2) combined to limit the Lions to five hits on the day while striking out eight batters and issuing just one walk.

Niles is tied for third in the South Atlantic Conference with her team-leading .467 batting average and leads the league in home runs (7), runs batted in (25) total bases (46) and slugging percentage (1.022), while holding the fourth spot in the SAC with 21 hits. The Phenix City, Ala., native enters Friday's doubleheader with a six-game hitting streak. Neidigh boasts a .404 batting average, which is good enough for 15th in the conference and is seventh with 15 runs scored and eighth with 19 base hits. The leadoff hitter is a perfect 7-for-7 in the stolen base department and is riding a three-game hitting streak.

Junior Molly Child leads the Trojans and is tied for third in the conference with six doubles on the season and is batting .341, with seven RBI and 11 runs scored. Newcomer Chelsea Jones is fourth on the team with a .333 batting average and has laced three doubles and driven in 11 runs in 14 games. Cason is hitting .316 on the year and already has three home runs, a pair of doubles and nine RBI to her credit, while fellow senior Rebecca Martin is the sixth Trojan to own a batting average above .300 on the year, as the outfielder is batting .314, with four doubles.

Pena is a perfect 5-0 on the season in the circle and has tossed two complete games in seven appearances, while also posting a shutout. The right-hander is tied for sixth in the league with the five victories and has fanned 44 batters in 38 innings of work, while issuing just eight walks. She ranks second in the league by holding opposing hitters to just a .178 batting average. Rudesheim (4-2) has won three of her last four decisions and is sixth in the league with a sparkling 1.75 ERA and has recorded 26 strikeouts in 36 innings of work. The right-hander has five complete games in eight appearances, while posting two shutouts and earning one save. Jones (2-1) has made six appearances, including four in relief and has earned a pair of saves in addition to the two wins. She has struck out 17 batters and issued just one walk over 12 innings.

The Golden Bulls
Johnson C. Smith was picked to finish third in the Southern Division of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association after posting a 13-25 overall mark a year ago, including an 8-8 record in the CIAA. The Golden Bulls were eliminated from the CIAA Tournament last April with back-to-back losses to Virginia State and Virginia Union.

The Golden Bulls returned 2014 All-CIAA selections Morgan Hasty and Jocelyn Hernandez. Last season, Hasty batted .398 and blasted seven homers, while Hernandez led JCSU with a .440 average. Hernandez led the Golden Bulls in hits (51), doubles (13) and triples (4) a season ago.

Johnson C. Smith, which is 2-2 on the season after splitting a pair of doubleheaders with Benedict College and Salem International, is slated to open a six-game stretch against South Atlantic Conference competition with Friday's twin bill. Following Friday's matchups in the Electric City, JCSU returns to Charlotte to host Brevard on Sunday and Coker on Tuesday.

Hasty paces the Golden Bulls with a .636 batting average through the four games and has belted a team-high three home runs on the season.

The Series vs. Johnson C. Smith
Friday's doubleheader marks the first-ever meeting between the Trojans and Golden Bulls.

The Lady Panthers
Clark Atlanta, a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, is searching for its first win of the season after dropping its first nine contests to open the campaign. Due to the uncooperative weather, the Lady Panthers have played just two contests since Feb. 10, dropping a twin bill to Fort Valley State, 7-0 and 12-3, last Saturday.

Clark Atlanta captured the third spot in the East Division of the SIAC with a 13-13 mark in conference play a year ago. The Lady Panthers finished the 2014 season at 20-23 overall after winning their SIAC Tournament opener and being eliminated after dropping the next two decisions. Two seasons ago, the Lady Panthers advanced to the SIAC Tournament en route to posting a 23-20 overall record.

The Series vs. Clark Atlanta
Saturday's matchups will be just the third and fourth meetings between the two programs in school history. The Trojans swept CAU, 7-3 and 14-0, last season in the first-ever meetings between the two schools at Panthers Field.

Neidigh was 2-for-4 in the opener, with a double and a triple and scored twice, while Martin slammed her fifth home run of her season in the fourth inning.

Neidigh added a pair of singles and two RBI in three at-bats in the second contest. Rudesheim struck out six, walked two and limited Clark Atlanta to just a single over five full innings of work to earn her ninth win of the season last year.

The Mountain Lions
Young Harris, which is 9-5 on the season entering following a Saturday afternoon doubleheader versus Mars Hill, was picked to finish eighth in the Peach Belt Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll in late January, after ending its 2014 season with a 20-33 overall record and an 8-12 mark in the PBC.

Outfielder Sydnee Weaver became the Mountain Lions' first-ever selection to the All-Peach Belt Conference preseason team since YHC joined the league in 2013. The 5-foot-6 senior led the Mountain Lions last year with a .396 batting average (63-of-159), 42 runs scored and 21 stolen bases, and .455 on-base percentage and was third with a .447 slugging percentage. The All-Peach Belt second team performer added six doubles and a triple as Weaver drove in nine runs as a leadoff hitter.

Weaver, who led the Mountain Lions with 21 multi-hit games in 2014, was ranked fourth in the Peach Belt in stolen bases and batting average, fifth in on-base percentage, sixth in hits, and seventh in runs scored a year ago.

Chandler Stooksbury, a 5-foot-8 catcher/third baseman from Kennesaw, Ga., was second on the team with a .319 batting average (52-of-163) and led the Mountain Lions with 10 doubles, five home runs and 44 RBI. She was also second on the team with a .485 slugging percentage and third with a .404 on-base percentage. The All-Peach Belt Conference second-team performer had a team-leading 12 multi-RBI games in 2014.

Junior hurler Darby Stanford was named the Peach Belt Conference Softball AstroTurf Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 10, after capturing three wins at the Eckerd College Spring Invitational. Stanford tossed two complete-game wins against Eckerd and Florida Southern, giving up just one earned run in each of those games. She struck out 20, issued only two walks and compiled a 0.70 ERA in 20 innings of work. She is second in the league in ERA (1.22) and is one of six hurlers with an ERA below 2.00.

Utility player Georgia Webb was named the Peach Belt Conference Softball AstroTurf Freshman of the Week earlier this week, after helping the Mountain Lions to two conference victories over Montevallo last week. She hit .500 in the doubleheader, going 2-for-4 in both games, while collecting three RBI and recording a home run.

The Series vs. Young Harris
The Trojans and Mountain Lions have met six times, with Young Harris holding a 4-2 advantage in the overall series. Anderson snapped a three-game skid at the hands of the Mountain Lions by splitting a twin bill at Smethers Field last season, winning the opener, 3-2, but dropping the nightcap, 9-6.

After the Trojans claimed a 14-0 shutout in the first-ever meeting in 2012, Young Harris defeated AU on three straight occasions, including taking a doubleheader, 8-2 and 10-5, from the Trojans in 2013.

Child recorded four hits in last season's split with the Mountain Lions, ripping a double and a single in four trips to the plate in the opener, then added a pair of singles in the second game.