EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball concludes the main portion of its nonconference season during the next week, March 4-8, as the Screaming Eagles travel south for eight games at The Spring Games in Madeira Beach, Florida.
 
USI will face Holy Cross University, Yale University, Central Michigan University, Bethune-Cookman University, Creighton University, and Long Island University throughout the week.
 
The exact schedule is as follows:

• March 4 against Holy Cross at 2 p.m. CT
• March 4 against Yale at 4:30 p.m. CT
• March 5 against Central Michigan at 1 p.m. CT
• March 5 against Bethune-Cookman at 3:30 p.m. CT
• March 7 against Central Michigan at 10 a.m. CT
• March 7 against Creighton at 12:30 p.m. CT
• March 8 against Long Island at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. CT

Last season, while at the Division II level, USI went 4-3 in The Spring Games hosted in Winter Haven, Florida. The Spring Games are the world's largest college softball event with teams from all college levels running February 18 through March 27 and are played in seven different Florida cities.
 
After a 3-1 start, the Screaming Eagles enter The Spring Games at 3-5. Last weekend at the Samford University Bulldog Classic, USI won its opener, 1-0, over Samford before dropping four straight games against the University of North Alabama twice, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), and Samford. USI will look to wake up the bats after being held to eight runs across five games last weekend at the Bulldog Classic. Plus, USI will also seek to tame opposing batters after giving up 25 runs in the five games.
 
In last week's opener against Samford, sophomore pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) pitched her first shutout of the season. Newman threw a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts across seven innings. She earned her second win of the 2023 season. The shutout performance on Friday follows six shutouts a season ago during Newman's freshman campaign.
 
Last Saturday, the first inning was a thorn in the side for the Screaming Eagles, as USI surrendered all six of North Alabama's runs in the first inning. IUPUI also tagged USI for two runs in the first inning in the second contest of the day for USI.
 
On Sunday, while Southern Indiana was able to do some damage control and limit big, crooked numbers on the scoreboard by the opponents, both North Alabama and Samford were able to scatter hits and manufacture runs against USI.
 
Senior pitcher Allie Goodin (Evansville, Indiana) was solid at the plate, going 8-for-12 with three doubles and two RBIs during the Bulldog Classic. Both of her hits on Saturday against North Alabama were double, and then Goodin went 3-for-3 in Sunday's game against Samford.
 
Offensively, junior outfielder Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Indiana) and senior infielder Rachel Martinez (Chicago, Illinois) are both hitting above .300. Junior catcher Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) and sophomore outfielder Kennedy Nalley (Huntingburg, Indiana) are tied for the team lead with three RBIs.
 
Goodin paces the Screaming Eagles with a .409 batting average and three doubles entering The Spring Games. In the circle, sophomore Hailey Gotshall (Lucerne, Indiana) leads USI with a 1.05 ERA, while Newman leads with 26 strikeouts.
 
All USI games at The Spring Games will feature the first all-time meetings for Southern Indiana.
 
All games at The Spring Games can be seen with a subscription to FloSoftball. Plus, 95.7 FM The Spin will have radio coverage for the last seven of the eight games from Madeira Beach, Florida starting on March 4. John Morris, 95.7 The Spin General Manager, will be on the call. Coverage links can be found on the USI Softball schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.