EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball opens the Ohio Valley Conference season and its 2025 home schedule this Saturday and Sunday when the Screaming Eagles host Western Illinois University for a three-game series.
Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's series finale are both slated for Noon start times from USI Softball Field. The series can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM.
Saturday's twin bill is High School Day at USI Softball Field. Sunday's game is Youth Team Day, and younger fans are encouraged to wear their youth team jerseys. Plus, the first 100 kids get a free USI keychain.
Southern Indiana (3-11) enters OVC play coming off a trip to the Winthrop University Coach Cooke Memorial Tournament in Rock Hill, South Carolina last weekend. USI went 2-3, alternating wins and losses during the five-game tournament. The Eagles' two wins came against tournament host Winthrop, 2-1, and St. Bonaventure University, 8-3.
Sophomore infielder
Sydney Long had a notable weekend with a .313 batting average, three RBIs, and two extra-base hits. Long went 4-4 against St. Bonaventure last weekend, which was USI's first four-hit game by a Screaming Eagle since Allie Goodin had four hits against Southeast Missouri State University in March 2023. Sophomore outfielder
Kate Satkoski recorded two home runs and four RBIs in South Carolina. Satkoski had only one home run in all of her freshman season in 2024. Junior outfielder
Caroline Stapleton batted .353 and scored five runs, while freshman first baseman
Lilly Brown hit .556 with two runs scored in last weekend's tournament.
Even though the USI pitching staff is still trying to find its rhythm, senior pitcher
Josie Newman went 2-1 with two complete games in three starts at the Winthrop tournament. Newman posted a 3.57 ERA in 17.2 innings. The right-hander struck out 34 batters, leading the nation in strikeouts for the week, per D1Softball.com. Newman struck out 15 batters against Winthrop, two shy of her career mark. Freshman pitcher
Kylie Witthaus impressed in her final appearance on the weekend against Youngstown State, tossing 3.1 scoreless innings.
On the season, Stapleton is USI's top hitter with a .356 batting average. Stapleton has also scored a team-high nine runs. Long is also hitting above .300 and is leading the team with seven RBIs. Long is tied with Satkoski for a team-best two home runs. On the pitching side, Newman (3-5) has a 4.41 ERA. Newman has thrown the most innings with 47.2 innings pitched, including five complete games. Newman has an OVC-high 80 strikeouts.
Newman is one of three players in USI Softball history with 600 or more strikeouts. Moving up the strikeout list, Newman (640) is two strikeouts away from second place all-time (Brooke Harmening, 2012-15).
Western Illinois (4-12) heads into OVC play out of a 1-3 trip to the Lindenwood University Invite last weekend in St. Charles, Missouri, where the Leathernecks faced the University of Wisconsin Green Bay twice and Valparaiso University twice. Western Illinois captured one win against Valparaiso. The Leathernecks did not play host Lindenwood, as the two sides will face off later in the OVC season.
Hitting a respectable .271 at the plate as a team, Western Illinois' top hitters are sophomore outfielder Malia Robertson and freshman infielder Ruby Tarr. Robertson and Tarr are batting .486 and .366, respectively. Sophomore utility Payton Brown has been the top run producer for the Leathernecks, hitting .300 with five home runs and 10 RBIs. On the pitching side, sophomore pitcher Lillie Wools (2-3) paces the pitching staff with a 3.88 ERA in five starts and 30.2 innings pitched.
USI is 2-1 all-time against Western Illinois, as the Screaming Eagles took two of three in last year's road series in Macomb, Illinois.
Admission to all USI Softball home games in 2025 is free courtesy of ProRehab.
