Schedule updated as UE Softball welcomes Bradley

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Aces to play 3-game set versus the Braves

 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Sitting at 3-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference, the University of Evansville softball team is back home looking to extend its perfect start against Bradley at Cooper Stadium this weekend.

A schedule change has been announced for Saturday as the Purple Aces and Braves will now play a doubleheader at 10 a.m. due to the impending weather.  Sunday’s game is still slated to begin at 12 p.m.

Former student-athlete and Evansville firefighter Beth Csukas will be recognized at 11:45 a.m. on Sunday with the MVC Most Courageous Award.  All first responders, current and former, will receive free admission to Sunday’s game to honor Csukas.  This includes firefighters, police, EMT, paramedics, etc.

For the first time since 2002, the Purple Aces opened up MVC play with a series sweep, taking all three games against Loyola last weekend.  It was also the first conference-opening series win since 2008.  Morgan Florey threw 14 innings against the Ramblers, giving up just one earned run as she won two games.  She also hit the game-winning walk-off home run on Sunday.  Michal Luckett had a homer of her own on Saturday and batted .556 in the series.

Sophomore Morgan Florey has been on fire as of late, throwing five complete games in a row while giving up just four earned runs over that span.  In those 35 innings, Florey has fanned an unbelievable 62 batters while walking just seven batters en route to a perfect 5-0 mark.  Her 12.4 strikeouts per seven innings over that span would rank in the top five in the nation.  For the season, she has struck out 9.5 batters per seven frames, which is 24th in the NCAA.  She was the MVC Pitcher of the Week.

Brittany Hay was the leader of the pack for the Purple Aces over the last week, leading the squad with a .545 batting average.  Hay posted six hits in 11 at-bats while scoring a team-high seven runs.  She drew two walks while getting on base 64.3% of the time.  She slugged .909 on the week while notching two doubles, a triple and a steal.

Against NIU, Hay went 2-2 with three runs scored as the Aces grabbed a 4-2 win over the Huskies in the home opener.  She batted .444 versus Loyola and sits at .300 on the season while leading the Aces with 17 runs scored, just four outside of the MVC’s top five.

Senior infielder Michal Luckett had a stellar weekend against Loyola, batting .556 while leading UE to the 3-game sweep.  She recorded 5 hits in 9 at-bats.  Two of those hits were doubles and another a home run.  In the 1-0 win in the series opener against the Ramblers, Luckett scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Game two saw her have one of the top games any UE player has had this season – going 3-3 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored.  She notched a 2-3 performance in the series finale and drew one of UE’s 2-out walks that saw the team walk it off in the seventh.  For the season, she is batting .315.

Bradley enters the weekend with a mark of 15-14.  In their first Valley series last weekend, the Braves dropped two out of three to Southern Illinois.  Caitlyn McCarron and Kelly Kapp lead the BU offense.  McCarron is hitting .482 on the season with four home runs and 27 RBI.  Kapp is a force on the bases, sitting with 34 stolen bases on the season and is also just two steals away from breaking the all-time MVC mark of 92, which is currently held by Amy Pierce of Drake.