EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball makes its 2023 home debut Sunday with a doubleheader against Lindenwood University in Ohio Valley Conference play.

Following a schedule change, USI Softball will face Lindenwood in a doubleheader Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission to all 2023 USI Softball home spring games is free, courtesy of The Women's Hospital Deaconess.

Saturday's scheduled game for 2 p.m. was canceled due to cold temperatures. Sunday's start time was pushed back from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Stay tuned to usiscreamingeagles.com for additional updates on any schedule changes.

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Southern Indiana is 8-11 overall and 2-1 in OVC play after taking two of three games last weekend against Morehead State University to open the OVC season. USI captured the first-ever OVC victory and OVC series win in USI Softball history.
 
In the series at Morehead State, senior Allie Goodin (Evansville, Indiana) led USI with five hits, batting .455 with a pair of doubles in the three games. She also hit her first home run of the season in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader at Morehead State. Goodin and freshman Carlee Effinger (Evansville, Indiana) led USI with three RBIs. Junior first baseman Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana) and senior infielder Jordan Rager (Fishers, Indiana) also had solid series, tallying four hits each. USI also had five other players record at least three hits during the weekend. In the circle, sophomore pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) went 2-0 with two complete games, striking out 16 with a 3.50 ERA.
 
On Monday, Newman was named Ohio Valley Conference co-Pitcher of the Week. In earning the honor, Newman went 4-0 between March 7-12, picking up wins against Creighton University, Long Island University, and two wins against Morehead State University. All four victories and starts were complete games for the right-handed pitcher. Newman struck out 31 batters in 28 innings pitched, and she struck out nine in two of the four starts.
 
Overall, Newman has a team-best seven wins, a 2.42 ERA, and 71 strikeouts. Newman has six complete games and three shutouts, two of which are one-hitters.
 
Offensively, Goodin leads the Screaming Eagles with a .393 batting average and nine RBIs. Junior outfielder Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Indiana) is behind Goodin with a .339 average and paces the squad with 13 runs scored.
 
Also noteworthy, Fair is approaching USI's all-time hit-by-pitch record. With two HBPs this season, Fair has been hit by a pitch 34 times in her career, sitting second all-time and three shy of tying the all-time mark of 37 set by Mena Fulton. Fair is also moving up the USI all-time charts in career home runs. Fair is currently tied for 12th all-time with 17 career home runs. She is one home run away from entering the top-10 and in a tie for ninth in career home runs.
 
Junior catcher Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) is tied for sixth all-time in USI history with 69 career walks. She is four walks away from entering the top-five list. Currently, Kihega's knack for taking good at-bats has led to a 14-game on-base streak, a career best.
 
Lindenwood (6-14, 0-3) is coming off a 6-5 midweek win in extra innings on Tuesday against Northern Illinois University. Prior to that game, the Lions opened OVC play against Tennessee State University, falling in all three games. The Lions were outscored 25-4 by the Tigers in the series. As a team, Lindenwood is batting .229 with 22 stolen bases. The pitching staff has a 6.09 ERA, and opposing batters are hitting .305.
 
USI leads the all-time series against Lindenwood, 5-1, having won five straight contests in the series. The Screaming Eagles won all four meetings in 2022, including a two-game home sweep to conclude the regular season before defeating the Lions in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament. Nearly a week later, USI defeated Lindenwood in the NCAA II Midwest Region #1 Tournament. Lindenwood's only win so far in series history came in the first all-time meeting in 2021.
 
Both games Sunday can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM. Additional coverage links are on the USI Softball schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.