EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball concludes the 2024 regular season with a weekend trip to Western Illinois University for the final three-game series of Ohio Valley Conference play. Saturday’s doubleheader is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start with Sunday’s series finale slated for a Noon first pitch in Macomb, Illinois.
Southern Indiana (20-19, 14-10 OVC) has already solidified its berth in next week’s OVC Tournament in Peoria, Illinois, with one spot left to clinch in the field of eight. However, the Screaming Eagles look to improve its seeding for postseason play. Entering the weekend, USI is in fourth place in the OVC standings and could finish as high as third. Western Illinois (15-32, 4-20) has been eliminated from postseason contention.
The Screaming Eagles visit the Leathernecks having won four of their last six games, coming off back-to-back OVC series wins against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Tennessee State University. Last weekend, Southern Indiana bookended its final home series of 2024 with victories against Tennessee State, as each squad tallied 13 runs in the three-game set. USI won 5-4 in the opener, was shut out 7-0 in the middle game, and then grabbed the rubber match by a score of 8-2. In the series finale win on Senior Day, senior catcher Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) went 3-3 with a USI season-high six RBIs, four of which came on a first-inning grand slam.
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Last weekend’s series victory allowed USI to surpass its 2023 win total in OVC play, as the Eagles recorded 13 conference wins in their first-ever season in the OVC last year. USI is up to 14 OVC wins this year. A series win at Western Illinois would push USI past its overall wins total from a season ago, claiming 21 overall wins in 2023.
Individually, senior first baseman Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana) leads the team with a .330 batting average, five points ahead of sophomore outfielder Caroline Stapleton (Shirley, Indiana) at .325. Stapleton paces the team with 22 runs. Kihega is hitting .303 and tops the squad with four home runs, including two grand slams, and 26 RBIs. Fair is second in RBIs with 21. The senior is also riding a team-best five-game hitting streak and seven-game on-base streak.
Junior hurler Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) leads the pitching staff with a 17-8 record and a 1.72 ERA. Newman’s 201 strikeouts and 183.2 innings pitched top the OVC and would rank top 10 in the nation, but USI does not qualify officially for NCAA stat rankings as a reclassifying program. At the plate, Newman is also batting over .300.
It has been a tough first season for Western Illinois in the Ohio Valley Conference this season, going into the weekend 17 games below .500 and with only four conference victories so far. Before a 4-3 non-conference win on Tuesday against the University of Missouri Kansas City, the Leathernecks had dropped 11 consecutive games. Their last OVC win came on April 5 in a 3-0 result against SIUE.
Hitting .243 collectively, Western Illinois is led at the dish by sophomore outfielder Rylee Boone, who is batting .316 on the campaign. Senior infielder Bella Alvarez, who is batting .280, has been the top run producer for the Leathernecks with 26 RBIs. Alvarez has 10 doubles and three home runs.
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Senior pitcher Emily Price fronts the pitching staff for WIU with an 8-18 record and a 2.68 ERA. Price has 121 strikeouts in 33 appearances, including 22 starts, and 138.2 innings of work.
This weekend’s series can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM. Additional coverage links can be found on the USI Softball schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.