EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball hits the road this weekend when the Screaming Eagles face off against Ohio Valley Conference-leading Eastern Illinois University in a three-game set.
The series opener is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. from Charleston, Illinois. The series will conclude Sunday with a Noon doubleheader.
Southern Indiana (10-18, 7-6 OVC) sits fifth in the OVC standings and looks to keep rolling after winning five of its last six games. USI claimed four of five OVC games during the previous two weeks while back in Evansville, including its previous OVC series against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville which had to be moved to a different venue due to wet field conditions at USI Softball Field last weekend.
Following the schedule and location changes last week, the Screaming Eagles finally got back on the field Monday in a doubleheader against SIUE, playing at the University of Evansville. The two squads split the twin bill with SIUE winning the first game, 8-0 in five innings, before USI captured the second game, 8-0 in six innings.
Sophomore outfielder
Kate Satkoski was USI's top hitter for the second series in a row. Following up a strong performance the previous weekend against Tennessee Tech University, Satkoski batted .750 with a run, two triples, and five RBIs against SIUE. The two triples that came in the game two victory matched a USI single-game record with Satkoski becoming the seventh Screaming Eagle to accomplish the feat. Additionally, Satkoski's five RBIs all came in the second game as well and were a career high for the sophomore. Satkoski has a 1.923 OPS across the last five games.
On the season, junior outfielder
Caroline Stapleton leads the team in hitting with a .371 batting average, which is top 10 in the OVC, and a team-best 16 runs scored. USI's leadoff hitter recently had a career-best nine-game hitting streak snapped last Monday. Freshman first baseman
Lilly Brown is not too far behind Stapleton hitting .356. Fellow freshman
Jordan Mackey is batting just over .300 but tops the squad with four home runs and 16 RBIs.
In the pitching circle, freshman pitcher
Kylie Witthaus tossed her second consecutive shutout in the backend of the vital doubleheader split against SIUE. Witthaus allowed only two hits with four strikeouts in the outing. The left-hander has orchestrated four consecutive quality starts and posted a 4-1 record with a 1.60 ERA in six starts in OVC play. Overall, Witthaus (4-6) has a team-best 3.13 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 62.2 innings pitched.
In Monday's first game against SIUE, senior pitcher
Josie Newman struck out five batters to reach 700 career strikeouts. Newman hit the 600 mark back in late February. The right-hander is in second place on USI's all-time strikeouts list behind Jennifer Leonhardt's (2017-2020) 787 strikeouts. This season, Newman (6-11) has a 4.47 ERA with a team-high 12 complete games and 98.2 innings of work. Newman paces the OVC with 140 strikeouts.
Eastern Illinois (19-17, 11-3 OVC) is off to another strong campaign in OVC play. The Panthers' only setbacks in conference action have come against Lindenwood University, the University of Tennessee at Martin, and Southeast Missouri State. Last weekend, Eastern Illinois swept Tennessee Tech University, winning the series opener in a 10-inning battle before winning via the run rule in the final two games. However, the Panthers enter the series against USI coming off a midweek loss to Purdue University, 8-0 in five innings.
Junior infielder Kendall Grover tops Eastern Illinois with a .427 batting average and an OVC-best 35 runs scored. Grover also leads the team with nine home runs and 24 RBIs, both of which also rank among the top of the OVC. Sophomore infielder Alisha Frederick is second on the team behind Grover with 20 RBIs while hitting .282.
Eastern Illinois leads the all-time series against USI, 10-2. Last season, the Panthers won all five meetings against the Screaming Eagles, including a pair of contests in the OVC tournament. USI's two wins in the all-time series came in USI's last visit to Charleston, Illinois in 2023 when the Eagles took two of three against the Panthers.
The three-game series can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM. Additional coverage can be found at usiscreamingeagles.com.
