Game time set for 5 p.m.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – In its third and final meeting of the 2023 season, the University of Evansville softball team welcomes Indiana State to Tri-State Orthopaedics Field at James and Dorothy Cooper Stadium on Tuesday at 5 p.m. ESPN+ will have the live broadcast.
Last Time Out
– UIC completed the weekend sweep over the Purple Aces with a 7-6 win in nine innings on Sunday afternoon
– In a back-and-forth contest, the Flames took the early 3-0 lead before UE responded with three in the top of the fourth
– Jenna Nink hit a 2-run home run in the top of the 7th to give the Aces their first lead of the day but UIC countered with two in the bottom of the frame to tie it back up
– Evansville stranded the bases loaded in the 8th but scored the go-ahead run in the 9th, however, the Flames took advantage of two UE errors to pick up the 7-6 win
Third Meeting
– Two contests have been played between the squads in Terre Haute with the Sycamores picking up a 3-2 win on April 4 before the Purple Aces earned a 2-0 shut out on April 11
– Game one in Terre Haute saw the squads fight to a 1-1 tie through seven innings before Jess Willsey gave the Aces a 2-1 edge with a solo shot in the top of the 9th; in the bottom half of the frame, a 2-run homer gave ISU the 3-2 walk-off win
– The second meeting was another low scoring contest with the game being scoreless after five
– Alexa Davis hit a 2-run double in the of the 6th that would prove to be the game winner as Mikayla Jolly and Erin Kleffman combined for the 5-hit shutout
Back on Track
– Following the completion of the series at Murray State, Jess Willsey was hitless in nine trips to the plate while her season average dropped to .254
– In the four games last week, Willsey has turned things around, accumulating six hits in 14 at-bats, which translates into a .429 average
– Willsey tied for the team lead with her sixth home run of the year, which came on Sunday at UIC
– One of Evansville’s biggest wins of 2023 saw 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
Top Streak
– Marah Wood is starting to get on track offensively and carries a UE season-high 8-game hit streak into Tuesday’s meeting against Indiana State
– Following an 0-3 game in the finale versus Southern Illinois, Wood’s average stood at .220, but the recent streak has pushed her average up 42 points to .262
– Wood is batting .444 during the 8-game streak, picking up 12 hits in her last 27 at-bats while adding four multi-hit games
– In the April 1 opener against Belmont, she went 3-4 with two RBI and two doubles while adding a walk, run and steal
– She followed that up with her second home run of the season and two more RBI in the second game of the series
Providing the Power
– Jenna Nink registered five hits in 12 at-bats in the series at UIC and currently holds the team lead in multiple categories
– Nink paces the squad in batting average (.282), slugging (.527), RBI (22) and on-base percentage (.402)
– She added two home runs in the series to push her season tally to five, which is the second-highest total for the Aces; her 2-run homer in the 7th inning on Sunday temporarily gave Evansville a 5-3 lead
– In the April 8 victory over Southern Illinois, Nink scored three of UE’s four runs while reaching base with two walks and a hit
– In the series against Belmont, Nink recorded two solo home runs
