EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Softball will honor its 2022 senior class this weekend when it hosts Maryville University and Missouri University of Science & Technology in a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheaders at the USI Softball Field.
The Screaming Eagles (32-10, 18-2 GLVC), who remained No. 17 in the latest NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll, square off against Maryville Saturday at noon before hosting Missouri S&T for Senior Day Sunday at noon.
USI will honor its six seniors—pitcher/designated player
Katie Back (Indianapolis, Indiana), third baseman
Mary Bean (Schaumburg, Illinois), pitcher
Elissa Brown (Brownsburg, Indiana), outfielder
Mikaela Domico (Naperville, Illinois), pitcher
Maddie Duncan (Lynnville, Indiana) and catcher
Courtney Schoolcraft (Crest Hill, Illinois)—following Sunday's doubleheader with the Miners.
In addition to their standing in the NFCA Top 25, the Eagles were ranked No. 3 in the first NCAA II Midwest Region rankings.
USI's games this weekend will be aired on the GLVC Sports Network as well as 95.7 The Spin, while live stats, audio and video can be accessed at GoUSIEagles.com.
USI Softball Notes
• Eagles ranked No. 3 in region rankings. USI checked in at No. 3 on the first NCAA Division II Midwest Region ranking of the year. Indianapolis (1st) and Grand Valley State (3rd) were listed above the Eagles, while Drury (4th) and Lindenwood (5th) rounded out the top five. Ohio Dominican (6th), Findlay (7th), Missouri-St. Louis (8th), Illinois Springfield (9th) and Saginaw Valley State (10th) rounded out the first of three regional rankings. Six of the teams listed are GLVC schools, while five GLVC teams are listed in the top eight.
• USI holds position in NFCA Top 25. The Eagles stayed put at No. 17 in the latest NFCA Division II Top 25 poll. Indianapolis, which split a doubleheader with the Eagles last Friday, moved up two spots to No. 3, while Grand Valley State held its spot at No. 24.
• Senior Day. USI will honor its six seniors—pitcher/designated player
Katie Back (Indianapolis, Indiana), third baseman
Mary Bean (Schaumburg, Illinois), pitcher
Elissa Brown (Brownsburg, Indiana), outfielder
Mikaela Domico (Naperville, Illinois), pitcher
Maddie Duncan (Lynnville, Indiana) and catcher
Courtney Schoolcraft (Crest Hill, Illinois)—following Sunday's doubleheader with Missouri S&T. This group has helped USI to a 98-56 overall record and a 50-24 mark in GLVC play during the last four years.
• USI goes 2-2 last week. The Eagles went 2-2 last week, splitting a GLVC road doubleheader with Indianapolis before coming home to salvage another GLVC doubleheader split with visiting McKendree Saturday.
USI hit just .182 as a team on the week, but got clutch efforts from several players, including a walk-off home run by sophomore first baseman
Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana) in the bottom of the eighth inning of USI's 2-1 win over McKendree and a two-run home run from Bean in the top of the seventh inning of USI's 4-3 win over Indianapolis. Freshman pitcher
Hailey Gotshall (Lucerne, Indiana) came off the bench to keep the Eagles afloat en route to getting the win against UIndy, while freshman pitcher
Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) had the save against UIndy before striking out 15 batters in USI's win over McKendree.
• Season leaders. Back leads USI with a .391 batting average, while Fair is hitting .389 with three triples and a team-leading 13 doubles, seven home runs and 38 RBI. The Eagles have nine players hitting .300 or better on the season and have six players with 20-or-more RBI on the year.
In the circle, Newman is 11-3 with a 2.19 ERA, 125 strikeouts and a team-low .179 opponent batting average, while Gotshall is 7-0. Junior pitcher
Allie Goodin (Evansville, Indiana) is 7-2 with a 2.71 ERA, while Duncan has a team-best 1.42 ERA. Back also has a 5-1 record in the circle.
• Walk-off wins. The Eagles have had 10 walk-off victories this season, including six that have been in the seventh-inning or later and four that have been in extra innings. Five of the walk-off wins have given the Eagles victory via the eight-run rule.
• Eagles in extra innings. USI is 6-1 in extra-inning games this season, including 4-0 in GLVC play.
• Hitting streaks. Back currently has a team-best six-game hitting streak, while sophomore outfielder
Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Ohio) and junior second baseman
Rachel Martinez (Chicago, Illinois) each had a team-high 11-game hitting streak earlier in the year. Bedrick has reached base safely in 12 straight games, two shy of Fair's season-high 14-game streak earlier in the season.
• Eagles back to 30-win plateau. USI cracked the 30-win plateau for the first time since 2019 and the seventh time in the last 10 years. The Eagles were on pace to crack the 30-win plateau in 2020, winning 15 of their first 19 games before COVID-19 canceled the remainder of their season. The Eagles have reached the 30-win plateau 12 times under Head Coach
Sue Kunkle and 19 times in program history.
• Best GLVC start in program history. The Eagles' 16-0 start to GLVC play this season was the best open to league play in program history. USI's game-one loss to Indianapolis snapped USI's 17-game GLVC winning streak, which dated back to the end of the 2021 campaign.
• Win streak. USI's 18-game winning streak matched the program record, which was first set during the 2005 season. USI followed an 0-8 start to the 2005 season with 18 straight wins.
• Weekly honors. Both Fair and Newman have collected GLVC weekly honors this season. Fair earned GLVC Player of the Week honors for her efforts in USI's doubleheader sweeps over Illinois Springfield, Truman State and Quincy earlier this season, while Newman was named GLVC Pitcher of the Week after recording a pair of shutouts, including a no-hitter, in USI's doubleheader wins over Drury and Southwest Baptist.
• Fair on Player of the Year list. Fair was named to the NFCA's Player and Pitcher of the Year Top 50 list earlier this season. She was one of six players from the GLVC and eight from the Midwest Region to land on the list.
• Newman put together impressive run. Newman saw her string of three straight shutouts come to an end during USI's win over Indianapolis last week. She had not given up a run for 20 1/3 innings of work until UIndy's Gianni Iannantone hit a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the second inning.
• Bean, Rager put up big numbers. Bean and junior shortstop
Jordan Rager (Fishers, Indiana) each have post a six-RBI game for the Eagles this season. Bean drove in seven runs in USI's doubleheader sweep of Southwest Baptist, including a career-high six in USI's game-two victory, while Rager had six RBI, all in one inning, in USI's 11-2 win over Truman State.
• OUCH! Fair has been hit by a pitch a league-high 15 times this season, including five times in the last two weeks alone. She ranks No. 3 on USI's all-time single-season list for being hit by a pitch. Marleah Fossett and Mena Fulton were smacked by pitches a respective 21 and 17 times in 2017, while Caitlyn Bradley was hit 12 times in 2016. Fair, who was hit 10 times as a freshman in 2021, ranks No. 3 on USI's all-time list behind Fulton (37) and Fossett (30).
• Kunkle claims 600th win. USI Head Coach
Sue Kunkle earned her 600th career with USI's 8-0, game-one win over Quincy. She is the first coach in school history to win 600 games at USI.
• Rager gets half a cycle in one inning. Rager had a two-run triple and a grand slam in one inning during USI's 11-2, game-two win over Truman State University last month.
• USI breaks triples record. Rager's triple against Truman State was the Eagles' 20th on the year, which set a new single-season school record. The former record (19) was set in 1994 and 1995. The Eagles currently have a GLVC-best 23 triples on the year.
• Grand slam club. Rager's grand slam also was USI's third of the month, which tied the single-season school record of three (2017). She joins junior second baseman
Rachel Martinez (Chicago, Illinois), who hit a grand slam in USI's 6-2 win over Central Missouri on March 4, and freshman outfielder
Kennedy Nalley (Huntingburg, Indiana), who had a grand slam in USI's 8-0 win over Lynn on March 7.
• 15-plus. Newman has two games under her belt with at least 15 strikeouts. She fanned 17 batters in USI's game-two win over Quincy and had 15 strikeouts in USI's game-two win over McKendree.
