Aces ready to open the year at Auburn next week

 Just seven days remain until the University of Evansville softball team will open the 2017 season at the Plainsman Invite in Auburn, Okla.

Evansville made one of the top ten turnarounds in the NCAA last season, improving their season win tally by 14.  This year, a team that features nine seniors is ready to make its move.  Head coach Mat Mundell scheduled a competitive non-conference slate that will see the Purple Aces take on three of the top six teams in the preseason rankings.

In the opening week, UE is set to face second-ranked Auburn.  The third weekend of the season will see the Aces face the preseason #1 team – Oklahoma.  Evansville faces the Sooners on March 3 and has the opportunity to face them again depending on how the bracket works out.  In the final non-conference tournament in Lexington, Ky., UE will face preseason #6 Michigan on the second day of the event.

With a week left until it all begins, Coach Mundell is excited about where his team stands.

“Our girls have been working very hard.  There is some great competition in practice with everyone fighting for playing time,” Mundell said.  “As a coach, it is very exciting to have the depth that we do.  We have a few different lineups that we are looking at; it is a good position to be in where you have several options.”

The opening tournament at Auburn begins next Friday with a 9:45 a.m. game versus Mercer and a 4:45 p.m. contest against SIU Edwardsville.  The Aces also face Creighton twice and face the second-ranked Tigers on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

“Next week will see us put the finishing touches on a few things, crossing our T’s and dotting the I’s,” Mundell added.  “We will work a lot of simulating some situations and other things like that to be prepared for the weekend.”

Seven University of Southern Indiana Men’s and Women’s Cross Country runners were recognized by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association for their academic and athletic accomplishments in 2016.

Seniors Jessica Reeves (Midland, Michigan) and Cathryn Peter (Tell city, Indiana); and juniors Emily Roberts (Fredericktown, Ohio) and Jessica Lincoln (Palatine, Indiana) were among 404 Division II women’s competitors to earn USTFCCCA All-Academic accolades.

The Screaming Eagles were also honored as one of 156 programs in the country with USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors with a team GPA of 3.39.

Roberts and Reeves earned top-10 finishes at the NCAA II National Championships en route to All-America honors. Roberts earned a program-best fifth place finish, while Reeves finished ninth. As a team, the Eagles recorded their best finish at the national meet in program history, finishing in fifth-place.

Seniors Chase Broughton (Marengo, Indiana) and Noah Lutz (Evansville, Indiana), as well as freshman Nathan Hall (Springfield, Missouri) were among 269 Division II men’s competitors to earn USTFCCCA All-Academic honors.

With a 3.23 team GPA, the men were also one of 115 programs to be honored with an All-Academic Team award by the USTFCCCA. The Eagles are included in the list 110 institutions to have both the men and women’s programs honored with the USTFCCCA team academic award.

Broughton and Lutz took home All-America honors after the NCAA Division II National Championships this past fall finishing 27th and 35th, respectively, while the team finished 13th.

The individual All-Academic honor was awarded to student athletes who have compiled a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.25 and finished among the top 30 percent of eligible runners at his or her regional championships and/or the top half of the field at the NCAA Championships. Teams must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 and must have scored at an NCAA Division II regional meet to qualify for All-Academic awards.