USI’s Fair nets GLVC Player of the Week honors

EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana sophomore first baseman Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana) has been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Softball Player of the Week in an announcement by the league office Monday afternoon.
 
Fair, a biology major at USI, hit .550 (11-20) on the week with five doubles, a triple, a home run and 10 RBI to lead the Screaming Eagles to a 6-0 record in league play.
 
Her week was highlighted by a three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning of USI’s 5-3, come-from-behind win in the second game of USI’s doubleheader sweep of Quincy University Sunday.
 
On the week, Fair scored six runs, had a 1.050 slugging percentage and a .591 on-base percentage.
 
For the season, Fair is hitting .435 with a team-high 12 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 30 RBI.
 
Fair is the first USI Softball player to earn the conference’s weekly honor since Alicia Webb was named GLVC Player of the Week last February.
 
USI (22-8, 8-0 GLVC) has won a season-high 10 straight games and is currently the last unbeaten team in league play.
 
The Eagles return to action Saturday at noon when they host Rockhurst University in a GLVC doubleheader before finishing the weekend with a GLVC doubleheader against William Jewell College Sunday at noon at the USI Softball Field.
 
All four games will be aired on the GLVC Sports Network, while 95.7 The Spin will air game one on Saturday and both games Sunday.
 
Notes
• Kunkle claims 600th win. USI Head Coach Sue Kunkle earned her 600th career with USI’s 8-0, game-one win over Quincy Sunday. She is the first coach in school history to win 600 games at USI.
 
• Rager gets half a cycle in one inning. Junior shortstop Jordan Rager (Fishers, Indiana) had a two-run triple and a grand slam in one inning during USI’s 11-2, game-two win over Truman State University Saturday.

• USI breaks triples record. Rager’s triple against Truman State was the Eagles’ 20th on the year, which set a new single-season school record. The former record (19) was set in 1994 and 1995.
 
• Grand slam club. Rager’s grand slam also was USI’s third of the month, which tied the single-season school record of three (2017). She joins Martinez, who hit a grand slam in USI’s 6-2 win over Central Missouri on March 4, and freshman outfielder Kennedy Nalley (Huntingburg, Indiana), who had a grand slam in USI’s 8-0 win over Lynn on March 7.
 
• Newman goes on strikeout tear. Freshman pitcher Josie Newman racked up 17 strikeouts in USI’s game-two win over Quincy after striking out seven of the 10 batters she faced in USI’s game-two win over Truman State the previous day. Newman, who was 3-0 with 1.40 ERA, .100 opponent batting and 27 strikeouts in 15.0 innings of work last week, struck out 12 of the final 13 batters she faced in the Eagles’ win over Quincy.
 
• Eagles put up ridiculous numbers. USI finished a red-hot week at the plate, hitting .416 as a team with 14 doubles, three triples, eight home runs and 49 RBI in six games. The Eagles had three players hit .500 or better and eight players with a .400 batting average or better.
 
• Hit streaks. Both Fair and sophomore catcher Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) currently have a hit in a team-high seven straight games. Sophomore outfielder Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Indiana) and junior second baseman Rachel Martinez (Chicago, Illinois) each have 11-game hitting streaks under their belts, while Kihega is one game shy of her season-high (8).

• Schedule change. USI’s doubleheader against the University of Indianapolis that was postponed on March 11 has been rescheduled for Friday, April 15 in Indianapolis. To facilitate that change, the USI-McKendree University doubleheader which was originally scheduled for April 15 has been moved to Saturday, April 16.