Aces and Bears ready for 3-game set
The final weekend home series of the season is set to begin on Friday as the University of Evansville softball team welcomes Missouri State to Cooper Stadium for a 3-game series.
A schedule change has been made as the action begins on Friday with a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. with the second game beginning at approximately 6 p.m. On Saturday, the series finale will begin at 12 p.m.
Senior Day is set to take place following the second game on Friday as two student-athletes will be honored. Pitcher Amanda Blankenship transferred to UE for the 2015 season and has pitched extremely well in her senior campaign. Though not officially a senior, Danielle Freeman is set for her final home week. She will complete her softball career this spring while concentrating on a return to swimming for the 2016-17 season.
The train kept on rolling this week for the Purple Aces as they swept a doubleheader at Southern Illinois before taking two out of three games against Indiana State. Evansville has now won four conference series in a row for the first time since 2013. The Aces are also 8-2 in their last 10 league games, another streak that was matched in 2013. With 10 victories in league play, the Aces are having one of their best seasons over the last 12 years. The program notched 11 wins in 2008 and 2013 and 12 in 2007. A 13-12 mark in 2004 marked the last time UE finished conference play at .500 or above.
In the last eight MVC road contest, the Aces are an impressive 6-2, including 5-1 in their last six. The last time UE has had a similar road streak came in 1999 and 2000. Evansville won five of its last six league road games in 1999 and their streak extended to 6-2 in the first two MVC road games of the 2000 campaign.
Morgan Florey has come out on fire in her first season at UE. The 4-time MVC Newcomer of the Week ranks 3rd in the MVC with an ERA of 2.01. Her strikeout total of 189 is second in the league, just behind leader Nicole Newman of Drake.
Over the course of the last week, catcher Hayli Scott batted .400 as the Purple Aces went 4-1 in MVC play while moving up to 5th place in the conference standings. She recorded a hit in 6 of her 15 at-bats, hitting four doubles while notching three runs and two RBIs
Missouri State comes to Evansville with a 17-27 mark and are 6-12 in conference play. Olivia Roark is the top hitter for MSU, checking in at .378 while Madison Jones has better .317. In the circle, Kaitlin Beason has notched an ERA of 3.56 in her 21 appearances. Erin Struemph leads the Bears with 10 wins in her 31 games. She has struck out 137 batters while notching an ERA of 3.95.
