ANDERSON, S.C. - The Anderson University softball team, which has climbed to 21st in in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Poll, will square off against South Atlantic Conference-foe Catawba Friday afternoon, while wrapping up a six-game road swing and the nonconference portion of its slate at Winston-Salem State on Saturday.

First-pitch versus the Indians on Friday is set for 1 p.m., while the Trojans and Lady Rams will tangle at noon on Saturday.

The Trojans
Anderson (27-7, 10-2 SAC) is currently tied with Carson-Newman for first place in the conference standings and is riding a four-game win streak, while claiming victories in 12 of its last 14 contests after sweeping Wingate and Tusculum.

In the Trojans' sweep of Tusculum on Tuesday, freshman Chelsea Jones tossed the first perfect game in the South Atlantic Conference since 2006 in an 8-0 win over the Pioneers, while senior Jessica Neidigh was the offensive catalyst. The second baseman posted a double and five singles, while going 6-for-8 at the plate on the afternoon. She drove in a run and scored four times. Jones helped herself out offensively by going 3-for-6, with two runs scored and a pair of RBI. Junior Molly Child added three hits and two RBI, while Bri Cason, Carli Hurtado and Rachael Barefield combined for six hits and four RBI.

Neidigh, who has 297 hits during her stellar career, leads the Trojans and ranks fourth in the conference with a.437 batting average on the strength of a team-high 14-game hitting streak. She has nine hits over the last three games and has reached base safely in 25 consecutive games. The Trojans' lead-off hitter leads the league with 52 hits and 40 runs scored on the season. Freshman Cailah Niles continues to lead the conference with 13 home runs and 48 RBI, while ranking second with her .820 slugging percentage and third in total bases with 91. Child is hitting .355 on the season and is sixth in the league with a team-high nine doubles on the season. She is second on the team with 28 runs scored and 16 walks, while ranking third on the squad in slugging percentage (.545), hits (39) and total bases (60).

Jones has recorded hits in nine of the last 11 games, while batting .340 on the year and ranks fifth in the league with 18 walks. Sophomore Courtney Czentnar, who boasts a .330 batting average, saw her 10-game hitting streak halted in the opener at Tusculum but bounced back with a two-run single in the second game versus the Pioneers. Hurtado has posted six hits in the last six games, while hitting .301 on the season. The speedy shortstop has yet to be thrown out on the base paths, going 11-of-11 in stolen bases.

Jones and sophomore Lauren Rudesheim each have 10 wins in the circle, with Jones posting just the eighth perfect game in the history of the conference. The right-hander ranks fourth in the SAC with a 1.81 ERA and has recorded 73 strikeouts in 73 1/3 innings of work, while walking just seven batters. Rudesheim has tossed three shutouts and leads the pitching staff with nine complete games and a save in 22 appearances.

The Indians
Catawba (17-13, 6-6 SAC) was a preseason pick to finish sixth in the South Atlantic Conference in a poll of the league's coaches after finishing eighth in last season's conference standings with a 26-21 overall record and a 9-13 mark in the SAC.

The Indians are 7-3 at home this season, while winning five of their last six decisions overall and is coming off a convincing sweep of Queens on the road in Charlotte.

Sophomore outfielder Kristen Stinnard was a First-Team All-SAC pick, after making 42 starts a year ago and was the team's top hitter in league games with a .286 average. On the season, she scored a team-high 22 runs and stole five bases. Second-team honors went to junior pitcher Carley Tysinger and sophomore third baseman Katherine Shumaker. Tysinger was a Third-Team NFCA All-American last season, posting an 18-10 record and a 1.29 ERA. She notched 293 strikeouts over 189 and two-thirds innings and set a league record with 27 strikeouts in a 16-inning win over Lenoir-Rhyne. Shumaker led the team in batting with a .317 average and produced team highs with five home runs and 30 RBI.

Tysinger, who set the school record for career strikeouts earlier this season, was named to the inaugural Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player of the Year Top-50 Watch List. She was named the Astroturf South Atlantic Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week on March 3, after posting 41 strikeouts in three complete-game wins. She notched 16 strikeouts in a win over Flagler on Feb. 27 and followed with 13 strikeouts in Catawba's win over Columbus State on Feb. 28. Tysinger then struck out 12 Bellarmine hitters on March 1 to close out her week. She finished the three-game span with an ERA of just 1.33 in 21 innings pitched.

The Series vs. Catawba
The Trojans and Indians have met just 12 times on the diamond, with all but two of the meetings occurring since Anderson joined the South Atlantic Conference in 2011. Catawba swept the first two doubleheaders in 2009 and 2011, while the Trojans have swept each of the last two seasons' doubleheaders and a SAC Tournament meeting last year, while winning seven of the last eight matchups.

In the three contests versus the Indians last season, Cason was 4-for-8 with a walk, while Child added a double and a pair of singles.

The Lady Rams
Winston-Salem State is 10-15 overall and 6-2 in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), while dropping three of its last four decisions.

Infielder Katrina Bartlett, a First-Team All-CIAA and Daktronics Atlantic All-Region selection, returned for her senior season after finishing last year with a .393 batting average and 17 extra base hits, including 10 home runs to lead the CIAA. She led the Lady Rams to the 2014 CIAA Championship, the team's third conference title in four seasons and a third trip to the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Tournament. She was also named to the 2014 CIAA All-Tournament team. WSSU closed the 2014 schedule with a 28-13 record.

The Series vs. Winston-Salem State
Saturday afternoon's twin bill will mark the first meetings in the history of the two programs.