EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball will open its 2023 season this weekend when it competes in the Evansville Invitational Classic at Cooper Stadium across town at the University of Evansville.
 
The weekend slate begins the 2023 campaign for the Screaming Eagles and kicks off the NCAA Division I era for the USI Softball program. USI will face the University of Green Bay and the University of Evansville throughout the weekend.
 
USI will take on Green Bay Saturday at 10 a.m. and again on Sunday at 9 a.m. Southern Indiana will also play the host team, Evansville, on Sunday at 7 p.m.
 
USI's original opening weekend slate, Feb. 10-12, at the Elon Softball Classic in North Carolina was canceled due to forecasted rain, pushing back USI's Division I and 2023 season debut an extra week.
 
USI is entering its first season as an Ohio Valley Conference member. The Screaming Eagles were selected to finish 5^th in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll, as the University of Tennessee at Martin was projected for a first-place finish.
 
As part of the OVC's preseason announcement, sophomore pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) represented USI on the 2023 OVC Softball Preseason Players to Watch List. Coming off a standout, freshman season in the circle in 2022, Newman went 17-3 with a 1.74 ERA and 185 strikeouts in 144.2 innings pitched. Newman made 21 starts in 31 appearances, recording 12 complete games and six shutouts with one no-hitter. The right-hander held opposing batters to a .171 batting average.
 
Newman's 185 strikeouts were third in the NCAA II Great Lakes Valley Conference and 29^th in the nation. Plus, her four saves last season ranked first in the GLVC and 14^th nationally. Additionally, Newman was a Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II Freshman of the Year finalist, named second-team All-GLVC, voted second-team All-Region by D2CCA, and earned Academic All-GLVC laurels.
 
USI is coming off a 49-13 record last season, including a 26-2 mark in conference play, and winning the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles. During the 2022 season, the Screaming Eagles had a stretch of 18 straight wins between March 7 and April 10 last year, tying a program record for consecutive wins.
 
In the last season before USI made the transition to NCAA Division I, the Screaming Eagles capped off their Division II status with a run to the 2022 NCAA II Softball Championships after winning the Midwest Super Regional. USI was in search of its second D-II National Title after winning the 2018 National Championship.
 
The 2023 USI squad features 19 players – 12 returning players and seven newcomers, beginning its 22^nd season under the leadership of Head Coach Sue Kunkle, who has a 628-420-1 career record. The 2022 GLVC Coach of the Year has her squad primed to make the jump, however, as her squad is coming off a historic 2022 season that saw the Eagles go 49-13 overall and 26-2 in GLVC play. Her staff was named NCAA II Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year for the third time after the Eagles won the GLVC regular-season, GLVC Tournament, and NCAA II Midwest Region titles, marking the first time in program history USI has won all three championships in the same season.
 
Additionally, Kunkle's Eagles set numerous records including the most wins in a single season, the most GLVC wins in a single season, and the best start to GLVC play (16-0). USI, which had its best 40-game stretch (37-3) in program history, tied the program record for consecutive wins (18) and set program records for triples (28), runs (353), RBI (327), and doubles (96).
 
Alongside Newman in the circle, USI also returns sophomore pitcher Hailey Gotshall (Lucerne, Indiana) and senior utility pitcher Allie Goodin (Evansville, Indiana). Gotshall was 8-1 with 38 strikeouts last season, posting a 2.96 ERA in 68.2 innings pitched. Gotshall made 10 starts in 20 appearances. Goodin tallied a 16-4 record with a 2.03 ERA in 144.2 innings, striking out 96 hitters. Goodin made 26 starts in 30 appearances, going the distance in 11 games. Goodin earned second-team All-Midwest Region honors from both the D2CCA and the NFCA and was a unanimous first-team All-GLVC selection last year.
 
Goodin was just as good in the box, batting .350 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs. The senior posted a 1.030 OPS in her junior season. Also, back in the Screaming Eagles' lineup with Goodin is junior infielder Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana). Fair recorded a .389 batting average with a team-best 13 home runs and 56 RBIs. Fair also scored 41 runs, hit 20 doubles and three triples, and posted a 1.230 OPS while starting all 62 games in 2022. The Greenwood, Indiana native collected second-team All-Region by D2CCA, second-team All-GLVC, and Academic All-GLVC last season.
 
Southern Indiana will start conference play March 11-12 at Morehead State before hosting its home-opening series from USI Softball Field March 18-19 against Lindenwood University.