Aces travel to Monroe, Louisiana
 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – It is officially softball season at the University of Evansville. This weekend, the Purple Aces will open the 2022 campaign at the Best on the Bayou Classic in Monroe, Louisiana.
Coming off its second .500+ season in a row, the Aces are set for a challenging non-conference slate before beginning Missouri Valley Conference action in mid-March. Evansville will face a tough test right out of the gate on Friday, opening against Stephen F. Austin, who posted a 35-12 record last season.
Friday’s opener against the Jacks will begin at 10 a.m. UE completes the day with a match-up against Morehead State at 3 p.m. Tournament play continues Saturday with games against Southern (10 a.m.) and Mississippi Valley State (12:30 p.m.) before a single game on Sunday versus SIU Edwardsville at 9 a.m.
Head coach Mat Mundell returns an experienced and balanced squad with plenty of experience on the field, at the plate and in the circle. Offensively, the trio of Haley Woolf, Marah Wood and Jessica Fehr bring back excellent numbers from 2021. Woolf, who was named to the MVC Preseason All-Conference Team, played her best softball as the season came to a close. The MVC Player of the Week on May 3 went 5-for-8 with three home runs, nine RBI and six runs scored in a sweep over Bradley.
Wood was a 3-time MVC Newcomer of the Week in 2021 and batted .303 with 11 homers, 32 RBI, 25 runs and 25 walks. Her 11 home runs was the most by a freshman in program history and she became just the 7th place for UE to belt 10 home runs in a season.  A consistent hitter throughout her entire career, Jessica Fehr hit .318 last year on her way to a spot on the All-MVC Second Team. She recorded 18 runs and 17 RBI.
Izzy Vetter is set to anchor the UE pitching staff. As a junior, Vetter finished 28th in the nation with 199 strikeouts. She won 13 games while tossing the first no-hitter of her career against Bradley.
With seven seniors from last season moving on after graduation, Mundell and his staff added a class that includes: Dori Brown, Sydney Weatherford, Paige McAllister, Jenna Nink, Brooke McCorkle, Alex Barnaby and Zoe Frossard.
