MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Bethune-Cookman looks to maintain its Southwestern Athletic Conference Eastern Division lead when the Wildcats travel to face Alabama State Friday and Saturday.

The Wildcats (18-23 overall, 12-6 SWAC) will play a doubleheader with the Hornets (17-24,9-9) and a single-game Saturday.

B-CU leads the SWAC East by two games over Jackson State and Florida A&M. The top four teams qualify for the conference tournament May 10-13 in Gulfport, Miss.

B-CU UPDATE: The Wildcats lead the season series 2-1 over the Hornets, sweeping a doubleheader 8-0 and 6-5 (10 innings) back on March 19.

After splitting with Florida Atlantic and sweeping Mississippi Valley State, the Wildcats enter the weekend on a season-best four-game winning streak. The Wildcats have also won their last six SWAC games.

HISTORY: Head Coach Laura Watten needs two wins to come B-CU all-time leader in coaching victories. She currently has 466 wins as B-CU's softball coach. The legendary late Cy McClairen registered a combined total of 467 wins as football and men's basketball coach during his storied Wildcat career. Watten is also within range of 750 career coaching victories, needing four.

STATS AND STUFF:  Freshman pitcher Hannah Ortega is eighth in the nation with 160.1 innings pitched. She leads the SWAC with a 2.12 ERA and 12 victories, and is third in strikeouts with 92. Halyne Gonzalez is seventh in ERA (2.96) and fourth in strikeouts (81) … Haley Parks leads the offense with a .278 average, followed by Joslynn Davis at .272 … Desirae Martinez has an eight-game hitting streak; her average has improved 30 points to .256 as a result.

 FOLLOW: Our twitter feed @BCUsoftball will have in-game updates and links to live stats.