EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A berth in the Missouri Valley Conference Softball Championship is on the line as regular season play comes to a close this weekend for the University of Evansville softball team as the squad heads to Peoria, Ill. for a 3-game series against Bradley.
Saturday's action begins with a noon doubleheader before Sunday's final game starts with an 11 a.m. first pitch. Evansville is battling Bradley and Loyola for a spot in next week's MVC Championship in Des Moines.
Evansville at Bradley
Game 1 - 5/5/18 - 12 p.m. -
Live Stats -
The Valley on ESPN3
Game 2 - 5/5/18 - 2 p.m. -
Live Stats -
The Valley on ESPN3
Game 3 - 5/6/18 - 11 a.m. -
Live Stats -
The Valley on ESPN3
Weekend Notes
A series that saw a new NCAA record, the Aces dropped three contests against Southern Illinois last weekend. Game one was a 16-inning affair that saw the Salukis push the winning run across the plate in the top of the 16th; Morgan Florey and Brianna Jones of SIU combined for an NCAA record 46 strikeouts in the game.
UE took a 3-2 lead into the top of the 7th in game two, but a 3-run rally by SIU helped them take a 5-3 win; they completed the series sweep on Sunday with an 8-5 victory.
Florey put forth one of the best performances in NCAA history, striking out 26 batters against Southern Illinois, just two shy of the all-time NCAA record. She threw 15 shutout innings before giving up an unearned run in the 16th in a 1-0 loss, her total was the most this season in the NCAA, five more than anyone else has had this year; Florey is the only pitcher in the nation to have two games this season striking out 18 or more batters and is one of just six individuals in NCAA history to record 26 K's in a game.
Eryn Gould continues to hit at an impressive rate, checking in at .372 overall and .395 in Valley play. She has recorded a hit in 10 of the last 11 games and is 17-of-39 over that span. The freshman from Mt. Carmel, Ill. is the conference leader with 13 doubles this season.
Freshman Lindsay Renneisen started MVC play with a .242 batting average, but has seen that rise significantly as conference play has progressed. Renneisen has hit .291 in 23 league games while leading the squad with four home runs in that span. She has registered a hit in 13 of the last 15 games and is tied for the team lead with seven homers on the season.
Bradley, who is coached by UE softball alum Amy Hayes, stand at 18-28 overall and 7-14 in the Valley. Maria Schroeder and Allison Apke lead the offense, batting .375 and .363, respectively. Apke has recorded 11 home runs and 40 RBI in 2018.
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