EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Set for its first home series in three weeks, the University of Evansville softball team welcomes Belmont to Tri-State Orthopaedics Field at James & Dorothy Cooper Stadium this weekend. Friday's opener has been moved to a 3 p.m. first pitch with Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. and Sunday's finale starting at 12 p.m.
Last Time Out
- UE picked up a road MVC series win at Valparaiso last weekend, sweeping a doubleheader on Friday before falling in Saturday's finale
- Jess Willsey had two hits while Niki Bode scored twice in the game one victory and it was Willsey who provided the game-winning hit in the 8th inning of game two
Freshman Accolade
- Eliza Piggott is the reigning MVC Freshman of the Week after batting .600 in the 3-game series at Valparaiso; she added a home run and five RBI
- Piggott paces the MVC with a .727 slugging percentage while sitting 4th in OPS, tied for 5th in RBI, ranking in a tie for 7th in home runs and 10th in batting average
- In the final game of the series against the Beacons, Piggott tied her career mark with three hits as she went 3-4 with three RBI
- Since March 9, her average has risen from .229 to .351
- Piggott put together one of her top performances in the second contest versus UNI as she went 3-4 with a home run, two RBI, two runs, and a sacrifice
Hitting Streak
- Picking up a hit in each game she played at Valparaiso, Niki Bode extended her hitting streak to seven games, the longest current streak on the team
- Her batting average of .398 is third in the league while other MVC rankings include sac flies (T-2nd), runs scored (6th), and on-base percentage (8th)
- Bode scored a total of four runs in the series against the Beacons
Doing it All
- Another strong weekend saw Jess Willsey go 5-for-13 in the series at Valparaiso to push her season batting average to .306
- She scored two runs in the series and is tied for the MVC lead with 26
- Willsey is second in the MVC with 111 at-bats, tied for 4th with seven home runs, and tied for 8th with 25 RBI
- Her double in the 8th inning of game two at Valparaiso proved to be the game winner
Solid Streak
- Freshman Cassidy Gall has put together a solid stretch for the Purple Aces
- She has allowed just one earned run over the course of her last 16 innings in the circle and earned win #2 of her career in the opener at Valpo
- The recent streak has lowered her ERA to a team-best 2.82
