EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Softball begins Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament play Thursday at 2 p.m. when it takes on the No. 6 seed Truman State University at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois.

The Screaming Eagles are the No. 3 seed after finishing the regular-season with a 33-17 overall record and a 19-7 mark in GLVC play, while the Bulldogs finished the regular-season with a 28-15 overall record and a 14-12 mark in GLVC play.

USI will either play a winner's bracket game or an elimination game Thursday at 4 p.m., while GLVC Tournament play continues Friday with elimination bracket and semifinal rounds. The GLVC Tournament Championship is scheduled for Saturday at noon, with an "if necessary game" slated for 2 p.m.

All of USI's games this week will be aired on 95.7 The Spin as well as the GLVC Sports Network. Live stats, video and audio links can be accessed at GoUSIEagles.com.

USI Softball Notes
• Eagles end regular-season with two DH splits. USI Softball ended the regular-season by splitting a pair of GLVC road doubleheaders. The Eagles settled for a split at Lewis last Friday before salvaging a split with No. 13 UIndy on Sunday.

• Last week's leaders. Sophomore outfielder Alicia Webb hit .385 to lead the Eagles' at the plate on the week, while freshman catcher Courtney Schoolcraft was 2-of-4 with a home run and a team-high tying four RBIs. Senior outfielder/pitcher Caitlyn Bradley hit .267 with a home run and a team-high tying four RBIs, while sophomore first baseman Haley Shouse and junior outfielder Allison Schubert each hit .308.

• In the circle. Bradley paced the Eagles with a 1.50 ERA and a .125 opponent batting average as she came on in relief against Lewis and earned a save against UIndy. Junior pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt was 1-1 with a 2.80 ERA and 17 strikeouts, while senior pitcher Haylee Smith was 1-1 with a win over UIndy.

• Johnson reaches 100 RBIs. Senior second baseman Claire Johnson recorded her 100th career RBI in USI's 7-3 win over UIndy on Sunday. She is the 13th player in program history to record 100 career RBIs.

• Schoolcraft comes up big, again. Schoolcraft hit a grand slam in the ninth inning of USI's 6-3, game-one win over Lewis on Friday. She came into the game for senior catcher Lindsey Barr, who left the contest for an undisclosed reason. Earlier this year, Schoolcraft hit a three-run home run late in USI's 8-6 win over McKendree after coming on for an injured Barr earlier in the game.

• Let the defense begin. The Eagles begin defense of their 2018 GLVC Tournament title this week as it opens GLVC Tournament play against the No. 6 seed, Truman State. USI finished the regular-season as the No. 3 seed, a game back of No. 2 UIndy and No. 1 Missouri-St. Louis.    Last year, the Eagles were the No. 6 seed and defeated the No. 3 seed, UIndy, en route to their first GLVC Tournament title in 20 years.

• USI vs. Truman State. USI went 2-0 against Truman State during the regular season and is 6-13 against the Bulldogs since 1990. Thursday's meeting marks the first-ever post-season matchup between USI and Truman State.

• USI vs. GLVC Tournament Field. USI went 9-5 against this year's GLVC Tournament field.

• USI in the GLVC Tournament. USI is making its 27th appearance in the GLVC Tournament and has a record of 46-42 all-time in conference tournament play (1986 results are unavailable). The Eagles captured championships in 1992, 1995, 1998 and 2018.

• GLVC Tournament and the EastSide Centre. The EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois, hosted the first-ever neutral site GLVC Softball Tournament in 2004 and is set to host the GLVC Tournament for the 16th consecutive year.

• Senior class. USI's senior class—Bradley, Smith, Barr and Johnson—have accounted for a 155-75 overall record, 77-36 in GLVC play; and is six wins shy of matching last year's senior class for the most (161) in program history.

• Leonhardt breaks strikeout record, ties win record. Leonhardt broke Brooke Harmening's all-time school record for career strikeouts (642) in USI's game-one win over Drury. Leonhardt, who has struck out 683 batters, tied Harmening's school record for career wins (74) in USI's 6-3 win over Lewis.

• USI in the GLVC. The Eagles finished the regular-season ranked third in the conference in team ERA (2.52), fourth in fielding percentage (.965) and fifth in batting average (.297). In GLVC-only games, USI is second in team ERA (1.86) and third in batting average (.288).

• USI in the rankings (as of April 24). USI dropped a spot to No. 22 in the latest NFCA Top 25 poll, while the Eagles are ranked No. 4 in the latest NCAA II Midwest Region Rankings. Indianapolis is ranked No. 2 in the region and No. 13, nationally, while Grand Valley State is No. 1 in the region and No. 10, nationally. Missouri-St. Louis moved up two spots to No. 3 in the latest regional ranking.

• Weekly awards. Both Leonhardt and Johnson have earned weekly awards this season. Leonhardt was named the Schutte Sports/NFCA Division II Pitcher of the Week on April 10 and has been named GLVC Pitcher of the Week three times. Johnson was named GLVC Player of the Week on March 11 following her efforts at The Spring Games.

• Webb ties record. Sophomore outfielder Alicia Webb tied a school record for triples in a game (2) when she had back-to-back triples in the first and second innings of USI's 7-0 game-one win over Illinois Springfield.

• Offensive leaders. Johnson is pacing the Eagles at the plate with a .388 batting average, 11 doubles, five triples, four home runs, 32 RBIs, 23 walks, 46 runs scored, a .605 slugging percentage and a .489 on-base percentage. Leonhardt is hitting .372 with 11 doubles, a triple, a home run, 30 RBIs and a GLVC-best 15 sacrifices, while Bradley is hitting .305 with 11 doubles, four triples, two home runs and 34 RBIs. Barr leads the Eagles with six home runs to go along with five doubles, two triples and 24 RBIs, while Webb is hitting .329 with five doubles, three triples and 20 RBIs. Schubert is hitting .300 with five home and 21 RBIs.

• Leonhardt leading Eagles in circle. Leonhardt leads the Eagles with a 19-7 record, four saves, a 1.36 ERA, a .189 opponent batting average and 215 strikeouts. She begins the week leading the GLVC in ERA and strikeouts and is second batting average, wins and saves. Bradley is currently second in saves (4) and third in the league in ERA (1.56) against GLVC-only teams.

• Hitting streaks. Webb has the longest current hitting streak of vie games entering the week. Leonhardt had a nine-game hitting streak this year, while Johnson and senior shortstop Taylor Ricketts each have recorded eight-game hitting streaks this year.

• Record book watch. Several USI players are in the USI career record books:
–Lindsey Barr is eighth in putouts (698), tied for 12th in triples (5), and tied for 19th in home runs (11);
–Caitlyn Bradley is third all-time in hit-by-pitches (21), fifth in at-bats (669), sixth in RBIs (122), ninth in walks (62) and runs scored (124), 10th in doubles (36), 11th in triples (6), and tied for 13th in home runs (15);
–Claire Johnson is first in walks (95), second in triples (16) and runs scored (154), tied for fifth in hit-by-pitches (17), 10th in at-bats (626), 13th in RBIs (100), tied for 16th in home runs (13) and is just outside the top 10 in assists (305) and hits (194);
–Jennifer Leonhardt is first in strikeouts (683), tied for first in wins (74), second in shutouts (31), fourth in complete games (73), fifth in innings pitched (631.0), and is tied for 12th in triples (5);
–Allison Schubert is tied for ninth in home runs (18).