Aces stand at 5-4 in Valley action
 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Looking to secure its third Missouri Valley Conference series victory in the opening four weeks, the University of Evansville softball team travels to Illinois State for a 3-game set this weekend. Saturday’s doubleheader opens the weekend at noon with Sunday’s finale set for a 12 p.m. start; all three games will be on ESPN3.
 Last Time Out
– Taking to the road for the first time in Valley play, the Aces took two out of three games last weekend at Loyola
– Trailing 2-1 heading to the seventh inning of game one, UE rallied to score three times on its way to a 4-2 win
– Mackenzie McFeron had the game-tying single before Jessica Fehr added the game-winning double
– Sydney Weatherford also added an RBI single in the inning to cap off the win; the freshman made the start in game two, tossing a 2-hit shutout to lead UE to a 4-0 win
– Monday’s finale saw the Ramblers hit a walk-off home run in a 4-3 victory
Another Stellar Performance
– Alyssa Barela continued to put up strong offensive numbers in the Aces’ trip to Chicago last weekend
– She went 1-3 in the opener before posting a 2-3 effort in game two with a home run, double and three RBI
– With one out and two runners on in the bottom of the 9th on March 27, Barela belted a 3-run walk-off home run to give the Aces a 6-3 win over UNI
– She entered the March 4 home opener with four hits in her first 30 at-bats of the season before rebounding to hit .444 in the opening four home contests
Finishing Strong
– Mackenzie McFeron is putting up the top offensive numbers of her career – she has 11 RBI in her career with eight of them coming this season
– She connected on one of the biggest hits of the season, hitting the game-tying double in the 7th inning of the opener at Loyola
– Four of those RBI came in the doubleheader sweep over Drake in March
– In game one, her triple in the sixth inning proved to be the game-winner in a 5-3 UE win that evened the weekend series
– McFeron did even better in the finale, belting a base-clearing walk-off double to seal a 12-3 victory and a series win
Dual Threat
– Freshman Sydney Weatherford is off to an impressive start to her college career, ranking in a tie for 7th in the MVC with 20 RBI while sitting 5th with her season ERA of 2.51
– She is coming off the best start of her career at Loyola, throwing a 2-hit shutout while tossing her fourth complete game in the last five starts
– Weatherford recorded a hit in both games of Sunday’s doubleheader at Loyola and registered an RBI single in the 7th inning rally in game one
