EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball begins its first Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament appearance as the No. 3 seed Wednesday at 3 p.m. from Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.
 
The tournament starts Wednesday morning with first-round play for the 5-8 seeds. The first round is single elimination, but the following rounds will be double elimination. The championship round will be Saturday.
 
The Screaming Eagles' postseason berth comes in their first season as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference and first year as an NCAA Division I program. As the No. 3 seed, USI gets a first-round bye and will play Wednesday at 3 p.m., awaiting the winner of the 6/7 matchup between Tennessee State University and Lindenwood University on Wednesday morning.
 
Southern Indiana went 20-21 overall and 13-9 in the conference season. The Screaming Eagles finished two spots ahead of their projected fifth-place finish in the 2023 OVC preseason poll.
 
USI improved its seeding position on the final weekend of the regular season with a doubleheader sweep of Tennessee Tech University on Saturday. Sunday's series finale was canceled due to inclement weather. After three scoreless innings, USI won game 1 by a final score of 8-0 in five innings before winning game 2 in walk-off fashion, 8-7, after trailing 7-2 through three innings.
 
In the game 1 win against Tennessee Tech, USI broke into the run column in the fourth inning on junior catcher Sammie Kihega's (Greenfield, Indiana) first home run of the season. Sophomore outfielder Kennedy Nalley (Huntingburg, Indiana) hit her first of the season as well, and senior infielder Rachel Martinez (Chicago, Illinois) went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and a pair of runs. In the pitching circle, sophomore Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) tossed a solid game in the game 1 win. Newman earned her 15th win of the season, going five shutout innings with only two hits allowed and four strikeouts.
 
The game 2 comeback formed behind a relief appearance from sophomore pitcher Hailey Gotshall (Lucerne, Indiana), who settled the game down for USI. Then, USI chipped away with runs in the fifth and sixth frames to make it a two-run deficit in the seventh inning. That is when senior designated player Allie Goodin (Evansville, Indiana) belted a two-run home run, her sixth of the season, to tie the game before Nalley delivered the walk-off RBI knock later. It was USI's largest comeback win of the season and USI's first win when trailing after six innings this year.
 
Overall, Goodin paces the Screaming Eagles with a .406 batting average, 15 doubles, six home runs, and 37 RBIs. Her average, doubles, and RBI numbers rank among the top three of the OVC. Her batting average is top 50, and her doubles total is top 20, respectively, in the nation. She enters the OVC Tournament with a team-best six-game hitting streak.
 
In conference-only action, Goodin hit .442 with eight doubles, six home runs, and 30 RBIs. In conference play, Goodin led the OVC in batting average and RBIs and was top-six in doubles, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
 
Junior first baseman Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana) is second on the team, overall, with four home runs and 22 RBIs. Junior outfielder Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Indiana) is hitting .311, leading the team with 30 runs scored.
 
Newman leads the rotation in the pitching circle with a 15-10 record, 2.32 ERA, 139 strikeouts, and 17 complete games with six shutouts. Her win total and number of complete games are tied for first in the OVC, while she stands alone at the top of the conference in strikeouts and shutouts. She has earned OVC Pitcher of the Week three times this season.
 
In OVC play, Newman's 10 OVC wins are first in the league along with her 95.1 innings pitched, 83 strikeouts, 14 starts, and 13 complete games. Her three OVC shutouts are tied for first in conference-only action.
 
Senior infielder Jordan Rager (Fishers, Indiana) has been one of USI's best hitters lately, as she has improved her batting average by over 20 percentage points in recent weeks. Rager rides a team-best 10-game on-base streak entering the OVC tournament.
 
Heading into this week's tournament, multiple Screaming Eagles are climbing the all-time charts in USI Softball history. Fair has already set the hit-by-pitch record back on Saturday against Tennessee Tech, as she passed Mena Fulton for first place all-time with her 38^th and 39^th hit-by-pitch. Fair s also moving up the USI all-time charts in career home runs. Fair is currently tied for eighth all-time with 19 career home runs. She is two home runs away from entering into a tie for fifth all-time. Goodin has 18 career home runs, sitting a home run shy of moving into a tie for eighth in USI's all-time history. Kihega is third all-time in USI history with 80 career walks. She is two walks away from second place. Newman is seventh in USI's all-time history for career strikeouts with 324. She is 15 away from sixth place. She is also one shutout away from tying for eighth all-time for career shutouts in USI history. Bedrick just entered the top five in USI's all-time history for career stolen bases on May 6 when she swiped her 50th stolen base.
 
Championship tournament coverage from Oxford, Alabama can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+.  USI Softball radio coverage can be heard on The Spin 95.7 FM. Additional coverage links are on the USI Softball schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.