Week 4 Game Notes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The 3-3 University of Evansville softball team will spend the next seven days on the road, leaving today for an eight-game spring break trip. The Purple Aces first head to El Paso, Texas, for a four-game series against the UTEP Miners. From there the Aces will travel to Auburn, Ala., to take on Louisiana Tech, Drexel, Auburn and George Washington in the 2012 War Eagle Classic, hosted by Auburn.

The series against UTEP will begin with a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 6 beginning at 2:00 CST. The Aces will then return the next day on March 7 for another round of back-to-back games against the Miners starting at 1:00 CST.
 
After starting the season with a 2-0 sweep at Alcorn State, the Aces are most recently coming off a 1-3 showing at the UE Tournament on February 25-26. UE dropped a pair of one-run decisions to Butler (3-4) and UMKC (2-3) while splitting with Detroit (2-1, 3-4).
 
As a team, the Aces are hitting .305 at the plate, averaging 5.5 runs and 8.3 hits per game. Freshman Kayla Fortner leads the team with a .444 average, tallying eight hits and three RBI on the season. Senior Amy Gaertner is closely behind, hitting .438 with seven hits and five runs scored.
 
Junior transfer Sarah Patterson has seen the most time in the circle so far, tossing 18.0 innings with two complete game appearances. Patterson owns a 1.94 ERA and leads UE’s staff with 17 strikeouts. Recording her first outing of the season at the UE Tournament, sophomore Taylor Perry has yet to give up an earned run, scattering six hits while picking up seven strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work so far.

Game Coverage:
Game 1: UE vs UTEP (Mar. 6) Live Stats
Game 2: UE vs UTEP (Mar. 6) Live Stats
Game 3: UE vs UTEP (Mar. 7) Live Stats
Game 4: UE vs UTEP (Mar. 7) Live Stats

Click here to sign up for live video streaming of all four games (powered by UTEP Athletics)

 
Scouting the Opponent:
University of Texas-El Paso (7-13, 0-0 C-USA)
The UTEP Miners carry a 7-13 record into this week’s series after most recently posting a 3-3 record at the UTEP Invitational last weekend. The Miners notched a pair of run-rule wins over Brown as well as a 7-6 win over Valparaiso while dropping a one-run game against Iowa State as well as two five inning games against UT-San Antonio. 
 
Offensively, the Miners are almost statistically identical to the Aces, hitting .303 as a team with an average of 5.5 runs and 7.9 hits per game. Seven UTEP batters have combined for a total of 22 home runs on the season, with Camilla Carrera leading the team with 10 homers so far. Carrera ranks third on the team with a .415 batting average and leads the Miners with 25 RBI and a 1.075 slugging percentage. Chelsea Troupe owns the Miners’ best average, hitting .439 at the plate with a team-high 29 hits and six home runs of her own.
 
In the circle, the Miners’ four-armed staff has posted an ERA of 6.35 in its first 20 games. Colleen Hohman has seen the most time in the circle, tossing 64.2 innings so far while compiling a 4.76 ERA with 47 strikeouts.