INDIANAPOLIS – The IUPUI softball team closes out its three-game homestand on Wednesday, April 1, when it hosts Valparaiso in a doubleheader at the IUPUI Softball Complex beginning at 3 p.m.
 
The first 100 IUPUI students at Wednesday's game will receive free #IMAJAGUAR t-shirts and pizza while supplies last, and it is also Softball Youth day where kids can run the bases and get autographs from the softball team following the completion of the game.
 
IUPUI is 19-10 on the season after going 3-3 last week, and the visiting Crusaders enter the midweek match-up with an 8-17 mark.
 
Valparaiso is hitting an impressive .317 as a team with two of its players posting .400 averages or better. Kaitlyn Ranieri paces the Crusaders with five home runs, while Tarah McShane has driven in a team-high 25 runs.
 
IUPUI is hitting .255 on the season with Roni Patterson boasting a team-best .337 average. Patterson also leads the way in the home runs and RBI categories with nine and 22, respectively, and during the first nine games of this homestand she is hitting .462.
 
Valparaiso leads the all-time series, 28-12, and the two teams split last year's doubleheader at the IUPUI Softball Complex. The 3-1 IUPUI win in Game 2 of last year's doubleheader snapped an eight-game winning streak in the series for Valpo.