EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball concludes its regular-season schedule in the Ohio Valley Conference on the road this weekend when the Screaming Eagles visit the University of Tennessee at Martin on Friday and Saturday.
The three-game series is set to start with a Friday Noon doubleheader and end with a 1:30 p.m. first pitch on Saturday. The series is the final tune-up before next week's Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament at the Louisville Slugger Complex in Peoria, Illinois.
USI Softball (13-28, 10-14 OVC) clinched its fourth consecutive berth in the OVC Tournament earlier this week, earning a spot in the OVC's postseason in each season so far of USI's Division-I era. The Screaming Eagles enter the week in seventh in the OVC standings and can finish as high as sixth, meaning USI is locked in to playing in the opening single-elimination round of the OVC Tournament. Meanwhile, UT Martin (31-18, 18-5 OVC) heads into the final series in second in the conference standings and two games back of league-leading Eastern Illinois University.
USI leads the all-time series against UT Martin, 7-6. The Eagles have won four in a row in the series history, including a home sweep of the Skyhawks last season. USI won two of three in its last trip to UT Martin in 2024.
The Screaming Eagles look to end the regular season on a high note and build momentum going into next week's OVC Tournament. USI has currently dropped six-straight contests, going back to USI's last road trip two weeks ago at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Last weekend, the Eagles fell in their final three home games to Eastern Illinois.
In the last series against Eastern Illinois, junior catcher
Alyssa Mumaw and sophomore third baseman
Jordan Mackey led USI's offense with each batting .500. Mumaw also scored two runs, and Mackey tallied two RBIs. Junior outfielder
Kate Satkoski hit .444 with two doubles and her second home run of the season while collecting three RBIs in the series.
Mumaw continues to have a strong season for the Screaming Eagles, making significant strides in her third season. Overall, Mumaw is batting .329 with 15 RBIs and has an OPS of .750. The junior has significantly increased her batting average and driven in 13 more runs this season than in 2025, leading to a higher spot in the USI batting order. Mumaw's jump at the plate has been especially felt in OVC play, batting .387 with an .866 OPS during the OVC slate. All 15 of her RBIs have come during the conference season.
Overall, senior outfielder
Caroline Stapleton tops the squad with a .341 batting average and 31 runs scored. Freshman outfielder
Katelyn Marx is hitting .331 with 28 runs. Junior infielder
Sydney Long has a team-best 18 RBIs while hitting nearly .280. In the pitching circle, freshman
Anna Kemp paces the team with a 4.17 ERA and 56 strikeouts. Sophomore pitcher
Kylie Witthaus has a 4.99 ERA and has thrown a team-high 94 innings with 48 strikeouts.
UT Martin heads into the final regular-season series coming off a sweep last weekend at Tennessee Tech University and has won nine of its last 10 games. The Skyhawks can secure a two-two seed and a double-bye in next week's OVC Tournament with a win. UT Martin also still has a chance at an OVC regular-season title, either outright or shared.
Statistically, the Skyhawks are hitting .293 as a team and have an OVC-best 3.61 ERA. Offensively, junior outfielder Carly Ward is second in the OVC with a team-best .411 batting average and has 13 RBIs. Senior catcher Avary Makarewicz is hitting .348 while leading the conference with 10 home runs and 46 RBIs. The pitching staff is led by sophomore Natalie Kreuziger (8-4), who owns an OVC-best 2.53 ERA and has 66 strikeouts in 74.2 innings pitched. Junior hurler Sami Scholtz (6-4) also has a sub-3.00 era at 2.92 and has struck out 59 batters in 74.1 innings of work. Both Kreuziger and Scholtz have made 11 starts this season.
Only Friday's doubleheader of the three-game set between USI and UT Martin can be seen with an ESPN+ subscription. Saturday's series finale will not be streamed. Additional coverage and live stat links are available on the USI Softball schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.
