UE faces Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday
Sophomore Alyssa Barela was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week as the University of Evansville softball team is set for its home opener against Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday at 1 p.m. inside Cooper Stadium.
Barela is coming off one of the biggest performances of the season for the Purple Aces as she recorded five RBI in a win over Big 10 foe Illinois on Sunday. Barela batted .385 in the Red & Black Challenge in Louisville, posting five hits in 13 at-bats. She had a team-best seven RBI while walking twice. In Friday’s win over Oakland, Barela went 2-3 with two RBI.
Despite going 0-2 in the rematch versus the Grizzlies, Barela walked twice. Her top performance was a 2-4 game against the Fighting Illini where she posted five RBI. She hit her third home run of the season to lead UE to a 9-1 win. In the finale against Louisville, she had a hit in two at-bats.
Her efforts helped the Aces win three out of five games in the tournament with the other two victories coming against Oakland. Haley Woolf also had a strong weekend. The sophomore batted .385 with two home runs, five RBI and accumulated 13 total bases. She had five hits in 13 at-bats while adding three runs, two doubles and two walks. In Saturday’s win over Oakland, Woolf was 2-3 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. She added her second home run of the day in the final game of the day against Northwestern. Woolf added two more hits and two more runs batted in on Sunday in UE’s win over Illinois.
Purdue Fort Wayne will mark the first home opponent. The Mastodons stand at 3-18 on the season, but are coming off of their top weekend of the season. At the Governors Classic in Clarksville, Tenn., they picked up two wins, defeating Bradley and UMass Lowell.
They are led by Alaina White, who is batting .321 through their 21 games. Her OPS of .817 is also tops on the squad. Madeline Swart checks in with a .308 average and a team-best 27 total bases.
