Softball to play at Loyola on Sunday and Monday

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Schedule changed due to weather

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – With two Missouri Valley Conference series under their belts, the University of Evansville softball team opens the month of April with a road series at Loyola.  Sunday’s doubleheader kicks the weekend off at noon with Monday’s finale set for a 12 p.m. start; all three games will be on ESPN3.

 Last Time Out

– Following a pair of losses to Northern Iowa in the Saturday doubleheader, the Purple Aces rebounded to win Sunday’s finale by a 6-3 final in nine innings

– Alyssa Barela was the hero for UE, hitting the game-winning 3-run walk-off home run to seal the win

– Izzy Vetter threw the complete nine innings while Alexa Davis contributed two doubles, two runs and a walk in the winning effort

– The opening two weeks of conference play have provided multiple positives for UE

– After dropping the conference opener to Drake, its 10th loss in a row to the Bulldogs, UE rebounded to sweep a Sunday doubleheader to clinch the series

– Facing Northern Iowa in week two of league action, Evansville fell in both ends of the Saturday doubleheader before taking a 6-3 9-inning win on Sunday

– The victory in the series finale ended a 7-game skid versus UNI

– Evansville went 0-6 against the Iowa schools in 2021 but earned a respectable 3-3 split in 2022

Walk-Off

– With one out and two runners on in the bottom of the 9th on Sunday, Alyssa Barela belted a 3-run walk-off home run to give the Aces a 6-3 win over UNI

– It was the second homer of the season for Barela and the 8th of her career

– In her last three games, Barela has gone 3-for-8 while her three RBI against the Panthers marked her season high

– 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

Heating Up

– Jessica Fehr continues to swing a hot bat, adding three hits in six at-bats to help the Aces sweep the doubleheader versus Drake

– She recorded a hit in two of the three games versus UNI

– Picking up a hit in 13 of her last 16 games, Fehr leads UE and ranks 10th in the MVC with a .345 average

– She is second in the MVC with 18 walks while ranking fourth with 20 runs scored – over the last 18 games, she has scored 15 runs

Clutch Performances

– In Sunday’s series finale against UNI, Alexa Davis was 2-3 with two doubles, two runs scored along with a walk and steal to help the Aces take a 6-3 win

– Her season average is back at .300 with her picking up a hit in four of her last 11 at-bats

– Mired in a 1-for-19 slump at the plate at the time, Davis broke through recording two hits in five at-bats in the doubleheader sweep over Drake

– In game one, she hit her second home run of the season in a pivotal 5-3 win before going 1-2 with two runs, two walks and a RBI in the second contest