EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The inaugural season at Tri-State Orthopaedics Field at James and Dorothy Cooper Stadium comes to a close this weekend when the University of Evansville softball team plays host to Illinois State for a 3-game series. Game one is set for Friday at 5 p.m. with the teams competing on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m. with all three games set to be on ESPN+/ESPN3. Two seniors - Hannah Hood and Erin Kleffman - are set to be recognized during Senior Day festivities following Saturday's game. Alyssa Barela, who completed her playing career in 2022, will also be recognized.
Looking at the Match-up
- Illinois State has had the upper hand in the series, winning 14 in a row over the Purple Aces dating back to the 2016 MVC Tournament
- In the 2016 regular season, UE took two out of three games versus the Redbirds in Normal marking the last wins against ISU
Last Time Out
- Scoring four runs in the third inning, Indiana State picked up the cushion that it needed to take a 6-1 victory over the Aces on Tuesday at Cooper Stadium
- Lacy Smith belted her second collegiate home run to end the shutout
Finishing Strong
- Freshman Jess Willsey is batting .411 over the last five games and has shown great patience at the plate, holding a .323 (21-of-65) average since March 19
- The recent streak has lifted Willsey's season average to .273, which is second ont he squad
- In game two against Southern Illinois, Willsey was a perfect 3-3 with four RBI in a 4-0 win for the Aces; the win came less than a day after SIU opened the series with a 17-1 victory
- Her RBI single against Belmont on April 2 proved to be the game-winner and on April 4 at Indiana State, she hit a solo home run in the 9th inning that temporarily gave UE the lead
- Willsey has six home runs on the season, which is tied for the team lead
9-Game Hit Streak
- Marah Wood begins the weekend with a 9-game hit streak, which is the longest for the team in 2023
- During the streak, Wood has recorded 13 hits in 30 at-bats (.433) while raising her average to .264 while picking up multiple hits in four of the nine outings
- Wood checks in with 19 RBI and 17 runs scored
- In the April 1 opener against Belmont, she went 3-4 with two RBI and two doubles while adding a walk, run and steal
- She followed that up with her second home run of the season and two more RBI in the second game of the series
Flexing Her Muscle
- Two home runs over the last week of play has improved Jenna Nink's season tally to five, which is third on the team
- She connected on a 2-run shot in the finale at UIC to give UE a late advantage
- Batting .333 (5-15) over the last four games, Nink has lifted her average to a team-best .274
- In the April 8 victory over Southern Illinois, Nink scored three of UE's four runs while reaching base with two walks and a hit; a week earlier, Nink recorded two solo home runs in the Belmont series
- With three triples, Nink is tied for fourth in the MVC
- She tied her career-high with three RBI in win over Kansas City in home opener
Home Run #2
- Lacy Smith hit the second home run of her freshman season on Tuesday versus Indiana State
- While she has just eight hits in 47 at-bats since February 25, Smith has been improving at the plate, going 4-for-12 in her last four games while scoring four runs in that time
- Smith scored career-high three runs in Feb. 24 win over St. Thomas and went 1-3 with three runs, two RBI, a triple and walk in the game
