HONOLULU – University of Southern Indiana Softball gets its third season at the NCAA Division I level in full swing this weekend at the Hawai'i Paradise Classic, hosted by the University of Hawai'i in Manoa, Hawai'i.
 
USI will face Saint Louis University (31-22 in 2024), the University of Santa Clara (30-23 in 2024), and Hawai'i (20-26 in 2024) in a round-robin format before a seeded tournament bracket. USI and SLU will face off Thursday at 7:30 p.m. CT. Then, the Eagles will play Santa Clara and Hawai'i on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. CT, respectively. The seeded tournament will take place on Saturday.
 
The Screaming Eagles will face Santa Clara and Hawai'i for the first time ever. USI dropped two previous contests against Saint Louis in 1986.
 
The Eagles are coming off a 25-22 record in 2024, including a 16-11 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference. The second season of its D-I transition saw USI surpass its overall and conference win totals from the 2023 campaign. The Screaming Eagles finished fourth in the 2024 OVC standings before making a run in the OVC Tournament that saw USI come up just a game short of a championship-round appearance.
 
The top returning hitter for USI is junior outfielder Caroline Stapleton. Stapleton started 40 games in 46 appearances last season, mainly in right field. Stapleton batted .297 with a team-best 25 runs scored. The top returning run producer is sophomore infielder Sydney Long, who hit .295 with 13 RBIs in her freshman season. Long finished 2024 strong with an Ohio Valley Conference All-Tournament Team selection.
 
Senior pitcher Josie Newman leads the USI pitching staff once again in 2025. Newman is the reigning OVC Pitcher of the Year and has been an All-OVC First Team selection in back-to-back seasons. The right-hander went 22-10 with a 1.77 ERA in 230 innings pitched in 2024. Newman tossed a complete game in 30 of 32 starts last year and racked up 230 strikeouts. Newman's strikeout, innings, and win totals were first in the OVC and ranked among the best in the nation. Newman was named to D1Softball.com's preseason top 100 players list and was ranked sixth among two-way players after also hitting .344 with 11 RBIs. Newman enters 2025 top three in USI history for career strikeouts (560) and top 10 for innings (535), complete games (60), shutouts (17), and wins (55).
 
Southern Indiana was projected second in the 2025 OVC Preseason Poll with 140 points, the program's highest projection yet in an OVC predicted order of finish.
 
The 2025 squad features 18 players – 11 returning players and seven newcomers, which presents a good mix of returners and new faces in the lineup offensively and defensively. Head Coach Sue Kunkle, who enters 2025 with a 674-465-1 career record at USI, heads into her 24^th season at the helm of the Screaming Eagles.
 
Live stats will be available for all days of competition in Hawai'i. Additional coverage can be found through USI Athletics social media platforms and at usiscreamingeagles.com.