EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball will carry a four-game winning streak to St. Charles, Missouri, this weekend when the Screaming Eagles travel to Lindenwood University for a three-game series in Ohio Valley Conference play.
 
The series begins Saturday with a single game at 3 p.m. from the Lou Brock Sports Complex. Sunday is a doubleheader beginning at Noon. All three games can be heard on 95.7 The Spin.
 
Southern Indiana (10-11, 4-2 OVC) took care of business in the second week of the OVC slate last weekend. USI opened its 2024 home schedule with a three-game sweep of Morehead State University last weekend. USI outscored Morehead State 14-2 in the series. The Screaming Eagles opened the series with a 4-1 win before capturing a 2-1, nine-inning thriller in the backend of last Saturday's doubleheader. USI completed the sweep with an 8-0 win in five innings last Sunday.
 
The Screaming Eagles hit .304 as a team last weekend against Morehead State. Senior first baseman Lexi Fair (Greenfield, Indiana) went 6-8 in the series with two doubles, six RBIs, and a walk-off hit-by-pitch in the series finale. Sophomore outfielder Caroline Stapleton (Shirley, Indiana) and senior outfielder Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Indiana) both hit above .300 and combined to score five runs. In the pitching circle, junior pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) went 2-0 in two complete games and one shutout. The right-hander posted a 0.58 ERA across 12 innings of work with 21 strikeouts. Junior pitcher Whitley Hunter (Nashville, Indiana) hurled a gem last Saturday, pitching all nine innings in USI's extra-inning victory. Hunter allowed only one run and struck out eight.
 
Following an 0-2 start to the OVC season, Southern Indiana has won four in a row to match its longest winning streak from the 2023 campaign. USI has gone 7-3 in its last 10 games going back to when Southern Indiana wrapped up play at The Spring Games in Florida.
 
This season, Stapleton leads the team with a .358 batting average and 10 runs scored. After a strong weekend with the bat against Morehead State, Fair is second on the team with a .328 batting average while pacing the squad with seven doubles and 12 RBIs. Senior catcher Sammie Kihega (Greenwood, Indiana) is hitting .298 with two home runs and 11 RBIs. Newman tops the pitching staff with an 8-5 record and a 2.04 ERA with 97 strikeouts in 14 starts and 89 innings pitched. The right-hander also has three shutouts and 11 complete games.
 
Lindenwood (13-14, 2-4 OVC) dropped all three of its contests last weekend against Tennessee State University. The Lions fell in two one-run games in the series, including an eight-inning setback last Saturday. Lindenwood bounced back with a midweek 1-0 victory against Saint Louis University.
 
Junior outfielder Mya Bethany paces Lindenwood with a .284 batting average and is second on the team with 11 runs scored. Freshman infielder Madisen Noll is the Lions' top run producer with 10 RBIs. The Lions are hitting .234 as a team with 33 extra-base hits, 74 runs, and 31 stolen bases.
 
Lindenwood's pitching staff is led by graduate Amanda Weyh and sophomore Avery Wapp. Weyh is 8-6 with a 2.55 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 12 starts and 82.1 innings pitched. Wapp is 4-5 in 11 starts and 68 innings of work, posting a 3.09 ERA with 65 strikeouts. Lindenwood has a team ERA of 4.23 and 160 strikeouts.
 
USI leads the all-time series against Lindenwood, 7-1. The series history dates back to when both teams were in the Great Lakes Valley Conference at the Division II level. Lindenwood won the first all-time meeting in 2021, but Southern Indiana has since won seven straight games against the Lions. Last season, the Screaming Eagles went 2-0 against Lindenwood, as the series was cut a game short due to bad weather. Southern Indiana started the series with an 8-0, six-inning win before claiming the final game by a score of 7-4.
 
Live stats and coverage links can be found on the USI Softball schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.