Aces head to Murray State for 3-game series

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – With victories in the last two weekend Missouri Valley Conference series, the University of Evansville softball team looks to build on the momentum with a 3-game road series at Murray State.  Games will take place Friday through Sunday in Murray, Ky.  ESPN3 and ESPN+ will have coverage of the three games.

– This weekend will mark the first time the Purple Aces and Racers will meet up as members of the MVC

– It will mark the first meeting between the squads since 2016 when they split a doubleheader in Murray; in 2015, the Racers took both ends of a doubleheader at Cooper Stadium

– Evansville took part in MSU’s non-conference Racer Classic in 2018 and 2022 but did not face the Racers in either season

– Mikayla Jolly tossed five shutout innings while Alexa Davis hit a 2-run double in the sixth inning to seal a 2-0 win at Indiana State on Tuesday

– Jolly earned her fourth victory of 2023 while Erin Kleffman added two scoreless frames to earn her first save of the season

– With two outs in the top of the 6th, Davis drove in the only two runs of the game to give UE its first Valley road win of the season

– Sydney Weatherford played a pivotal role in UE’s series win over Southern Illinois last weekend

– The sophomore earned two victories as she pitched a total of 10 innings and allowed three runs, two being earned

– With a season ERA of 2.68, Weatherford is 10th in the MVC; in conference games, she has recorded an ERA of just 1.24

– Over her last 40 1/3 innings of work, Weatherford has allowed just seven earned runs while lowering her season ERA to 2.68

– After allowing five runs in 2/3 inning against Indiana on March 11, her ERA rose to 5.33; in total, Weatherford gave up 17 earned runs in her first 22 1/3 innings of 2023

– In the weekend series versus Southern Illinois, Megan Brenton racked up two more saves to improve her conference-leading total to five

– Her ERA of 1.11 continues to pace the conference while her opponent batting average of .188 is 5th in the league

– Brenton registered the save in both wins over the Salukis, combining to toss four shutout frames while giving up two hits and one walk while striking out four batters

– In 50 2/3 innings of work in 2023, Brenton has allowed 12 runs, just eight of which have been earned

– Brenton has fanned 50 batters while walking 33

– One of Evansville’s biggest wins of 2023 saw Jess Willsey take over with her performance at the plate

– In game two against Southern Illinois, Willsey was a perfect 3-3 with four RBI in a 4-0 win for the Aces; the win came less than a day after SIU opened the series with a 17-1 victory

– Her season batting average of .274 has risen greatly over the last three weeks as she is batting .359 (14-39) since March 19

– Willsey is tied for 7th n the MVC with two triples and is tied for 8th with five homers

– Her RBI single against Belmont on April 2 proved to be the game-winner and on April 4 at Indiana State, she hit a solo home run in the 9th inning that temporarily gave UE the lead

– Willsey has five home runs on the season, which leads the UE squad