NCAA National Stats

NORFOLK, Va. – Sophomore outfielder Haley Ward is now officially the nation's current leading hitter after the updated NCAA softball stats were posted on Monday afternoon. She enters the week with a .504 average, .010 points ahead of Texas Southern's Thomasina Garza at .494.

Ward finally entered the national rankings after reaching the 75 percent threshold for games played required to appear in the national stats. After missing the first several games of the year, Ward has now played in 35 of NSU's 46 games this year (76.1 percent), surpassing the 75-percent mark over the weekend.

The Virginia Beach, Va., native also ranks second in the nation in doubles per game (0.49), seventh in triples (0.14), 14th in slugging percentage (.857), 17th in RBI (1.14), 21st in runs (1.06) and 23rd in on-base percentage (.531).

On the year, Ward has scored 37 runs on 60 hits with 17 doubles, five triples, five home runs, 40 RBI and seven stolen bases.

NSU will head down to the MEAC tournament this week in Ormond Beach, Fla., as the No. 2 seed in the Northern Division. The Spartans will take on the No. 3 seed from the Southern Division at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, unofficially at this point Savannah State.