INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI softball team steps outside of its Summit League schedule to take on the Valparaiso Crusaders in a doubleheader on Tuesday. The games are scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM.
The Jaguars are fresh off a series win against conference rival Oakland and are slowly creeping back toward the .500 mark at 9-12 (4-2 Summit League).
IUPUI is 5-3 in its last eight games, taking two of three against Centenary, splitting a doubleheader with Dayton and taking two of three against Oakland.
Freshmen Brandi Lawson and Nikki Thomas have been leading the charge for the Jaguars.
Lawson belted a walk-off home run in game one against Oakland and hit another one in the opening game of the doubleheader against Dayton. She batted .462 over the last week and is now hitting .383. The pair of home runs give her four on the year and place her tied with Chelsie Hale for the team lead.
Thomas (4-5) pitched in all five IUPUI games last week recording two wins and 27 strikeouts in 20 innings of work. She started two games and tossed a complete-game shutout against Dayton. The Southport native has an era of 2.42.
A third freshman, Angela Bartucci, has raised her average to .306. Bartucci hit her second home run of the season last week.
Valparaiso - (12-10, 0-0 Horizon League)
The Crusaders come in having won five consecutive games, but have not played since a March 11 win against Pennsylvania.
Valparaiso got the best of the Jaguars sweeping a doubleheader last April.
Pitching
Juniors Alex Lagesse and Sam Mcgee do the bulk of the starting for the Crusaders. The pair has started 17 of 22 games thus far.
Lagesse (3-5) has started nine games with a 2.43 ERA. She hasn't overpowered offenses in the early going, striking out 22 in 46 innings of work.
Mcgee (6-3) has started eight games and boasts a 2.58 ERA. She has fanned 40 in 54.1 innings of work.
Offense
Jordan Rutkowski, Sara Strickland and Angie Doerffler lead Valparaiso offensively. They are the only three Crusaders to start and play in all 22 games.
Strickland is hitting a robust .406 while Doerffler comes in at .352.
Rutkowski has been the team's top run producer. She has a team-high 17 RBI and five home runs.
Live stats will be available at IUPUIjags.com
