EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball looks to get back on track and return to the win column when the Screaming Eagles hit the road this weekend for a three-game set at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's game are slated for 1 p.m. first pitches.
 
Entering the weekend, Southern Indiana (16-17, 10-8 OVC) sits in fifth place in the Ohio Valley Conference, while SIUE (14-27, 6-12 OVC) is eighth with only three weekends left in the regular season.
 
USI looks to rebound in the series against the Cougars after getting swept earlier in the week against Eastern Illinois University. The series loss to Eastern Illinois put USI back below .500 on the season for the first time since March 24 and is also the first three-game skid since late February in non-conference play for the Screaming Eagles.
 
Against the Panthers, Southern Indiana was outscored 11-1, getting shut out in the first games before tallying a run in the series finale. USI was limited to only four hits in each of the first two contests before totaling eight hits in the last game, which saw freshman infielder Sydney Long (Haubstadt, Indiana) make a return to the lineup with two hits and an RBI. Sophomore outfielder Caroline Stapleton (Shirley, Indiana) also had two hits in the series finale.
 
Pitching had the upper hand for most of the series. For USI, junior pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) pitched a complete game with only one earned run allowed in the series opener, and in the second game, junior hurler Whitley Hunter (Nashville, Illinois) tossed her second complete outing of the season after settling in following three first-inning runs by Eastern Illinois.
 
On the season, the top five in USI's batting order are all batting at least .290 with junior infielder Hailey Gotshall (Lucerne, Indiana), senior first baseman Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana), and senior catcher Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) each registering 12-plus RBIs on the campaign. In the last 10 games, Gotshall, Fair, Kihega, and Stapleton are hitting over .300. Overall, Stapleton leads USI with a .326 batting average and 17 runs, Kihega paces the team with three home runs, and Fair tops the squad with 19 RBIs this season. While the top five in the lineup have produced, the Screaming Eagles will be looking to string it all together and try to find that big inning with a crooked number.
 
SIUE goes into the weekend matchup having dropped four straight games, which includes a 4-1 midweek loss at the University of Missouri on Wednesday and a three-game sweep at the hands of Tennessee State University last weekend. Prior to the four-game skid, SIUE had won two consecutive OVC series against Western Illinois University and Eastern Illinois University.
 
The Cougars are solid offensively, batting .279 as a team with 71 extra-base hits and 178 total runs. SIUE is led by the OVC's leading hitter in junior infielder Paige Rocha, who is hitting .445 at the plate. Rocha is first in the OVC with 67 hits and 19 doubles while second with 67 runs. Senior infielder Grace Lueke is the leading run producer for the Cougars with 26 RBIs and four home runs. Lueke is batting .317 this season. In the pitching circle, senior Kelsey Ray and senior Sydney Baalman have been the primary starters. Ray is 7-6 with a 2.88 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 92.1 innings of work, and Baalman is 3-13 with a 4.30 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 88 innings pitched.
 
The Screaming Eagles and Cougars will be adding another chapter to their longtime rivalry, which stretches to 1984. SIUE leads the all-time series 54-23-1, winning three of four contests last season in 2023. In last year's regular season meeting at USI Softball Field, USI won the series opener before SIUE took the last two games toward the series win. The final game went to 10 innings. USI and SIUE also met in an elimination game at the 2023 OVC Tournament. The Cougars went on to a 10-3 victory and ended up as the tournament runner-up.
 
The series can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM. Additional coverage links can be found on the USI Softball schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.