EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball concludes its 2025 home slate and regular-season schedule this weekend when the Screaming Eagles host Lindenwood University for a three-game set in Ohio Valley Conference play.
The series against the Lions begins with a single game on Saturday at Noon, moved up from original 3 p.m. start due to weather forecast, and concludes with a Noon doubleheader on Sunday from USI Softball Field.
Southern Indiana is celebrating Senior Weekend, recognizing its 2025 senior class of pitcher
Josie Newman, outfielder
Kennedy Nalley, and infielder/pitcher
Whitley Hunter. The 2025 senior class has earned more than 100 total wins and over 60 conference wins while in a USI uniform. They helped USI to a record-breaking season in the Screaming Eagles' final year in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and have led USI to three straight OVC tournament appearances.
USI (14-23, 11-11 OVC) clinched its third consecutive OVC tournament berth last weekend. The Screaming Eagles can be anywhere between the fourth and sixth seeds. To obtain the no. 4 seed and avoid the single-elimination round at the tournament, USI needs to sweep fourth-place Lindenwood (23-21, 14-10 OVC) and jump the Lions by conference win percentage.
USI is coming off a road trip to Southeast Missouri State University last weekend. The Redhawks took two of three games against the Screaming Eagles. USI grabbed the middle game of the series, while SEMO bookended the series with wins.
Junior outfielder
Caroline Stapleton led USI at SEMO with a .625 batting average, going 5-8 at the plate. Nalley also hit well, batting .444 with two doubles and two runs. Freshman
Jordan Mackey paced USI with three RBIs, which came on a bases-clearing double. Newman and freshman
Kylie Witthaus recorded a complete game in the pitching circle. Witthaus picked up USI's win in the series, recording her seventh consecutive quality start in OVC play.
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, Stapleton is USI's leading hitter with a .374 batting average. Stapleton has also scored a team-high 17 runs. Mackey is batting just over .290 and paces the squad with four home runs and 21 RBIs. On the pitching side, Witthaus (6-7) has a team-best 2.86 ERA in 85.2 innings with 49 strikeouts. Newman (8-15) has a 4.12 ERA. Newman has thrown the most innings with 132.2 innings pitched, including 17 complete games. Newman has an OVC-high 176 strikeouts and was OVC Pitcher of the Week prior to the SEMO series.
Lindenwood has fared well as of late, winning three straight OVC series. The Lions are coming off a home sweep of Tennessee Tech University last weekend, which included a pair of one-run victories.
Senior outfielder Nicole Henson leads Lindenwood with a .354 batting average and is tied for a team-best 19 runs scored. Junior utility Jolie McMinn tops the squad with 31 RBIs while hitting .311 this season. Junior infielder Tori Hatton leads the Lions with six home runs and is second with 21 RBIs. Ranking among the top half of the OVC in pitching, the Lions are led in the pitching circle by junior Avery Wapp (8-7). Wapp has a 2.52 ERA with 118 strikeouts in 28 appearances, including 15 starts, and 108.1 innings pitched. Junior pitcher Ryleigh Owens (11-7) also has a sub-3.00 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 106.1 innings.
USI leads the all-time series against Lindenwood, 9-2. Last season, the Screaming Eagles took two of three on the road at Lindenwood, with both wins coming by one run. In Lindenwood's last visit to USI Softball Field in 2023, USI picked up a two-game sweep as the third game was canceled due to weather.
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.
