BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – IUPUI softball continues early season tournament play, spending its weekend at Western Kentucky for five games. The Jags will be looking to end a three-game losing streak coming in to the weekend.
IUPUI will begin play on Friday (Feb. 28) with contests against Illinois State (11 a.m. ET) and host Western Kentucky (4 p.m. ET). On Saturday (Feb 29), IUPUI's lone scheduled game is at 11 a.m. against Austin Peay before the four teams will seed for a tournament.
The first round of the tournament will be played on Saturday afternoon with the No. 1/No. 4 game happening at 4 p.m. ET and the No.2/No.3 game being played at 6:30 p.m. ET. On Sunday (March 1) the consolation game will start at 12 p.m. ET and the Championship game will start at 2:30 p.m. ET.
IUPUI's game against Western Kentucky on Friday will be streamed on Facebook Live.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday (Feb. 28)
Saturday (Feb. 29)
Sunday (March 1)
ABOUT IUPUI (3-7)
IUPUI dropped four of its five games in its last tournament at UTEP. The Jags were outscored 58-20 during the weekend with three games ending in five innings. IUPUI's lone win was an 8-7 win over UTEP in eight innings.
Freshman
Rachael Gregory continues to swing a hot bat for the Jags, leading the team with a .481 batting average and 13 hits.
Jaida Speth is second in the team with a .375 average and leads the team win triples (2) and RBI (8). The Jags do not run much but they are 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts with
Mandy Dallas 3-for-3.
In the circle, freshman
Kayana Diederich holds a 2-1 record with a 5.40 ERA. The whole pitching staff has struggled with the long ball as the Jags have allowed 16 home runs through the first ten games of the year.
ABOUT ILLINOIS STATE (6-7)
Illinois State enters the weekend on a four-game win streak after winning all three games they played over the past weekend. The Redbirds have six batters hitting over .300 on the season with Emme Olson leading the team at .400. Olson also has a team-high 14 RBI.
Mack Leonard leads the team with five home runs and is slugging .830 on the year.
Illinois State's two best pitchers hold ERA's under 3.50 with Leonard leading the team at a 2.80 ERA. Morgan Day leads the staff with three wins and 58 strikeouts in a team-high 39.2 innings pitched.
ABOUT WESTERN KENTUCKY (11-4)
Western Kentucky sits at 11-4 on the season and is coming off of a win over Green Bay in its last game. The Hilltoppers are led on offense by Taylor Davis who is hitting .419 on the season and is 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts.
Three Western Kentucky players are tied for the team lead with three home runs and Kennedy Sullivan leads the team with 16 RBI. Three other Hilltoppers have driven in double-digit runs this season. As a team Western Kentucky is hitting .324 on the season.
The pitching staff has been dominant for WKU, holding opponents to a batting average of just .198 and only 37 runs scored in 104 innings. Two pitchers for the Hilltoppers have ERAs under 1.30 with Kelsey Aikey at a 1.28 ERA with a 6-2 record and 75 strikeouts in 49.1 innings.
ABOUT AUSTIN PEAY (4-7)
Austin Peay lost its last game to No. 18/19 Georgia and has lost five of its last six matches. The Governors are hitting just .258 as a team with Bailey Shorter leading the team with a .351 batting average.
Austin Peay has only hit four home runs as a team this season with four players each hitting one. Shorter leads the team with five RBI. On the season, Austin Peay has been outscored 65-30.
In the circle, Shelby Harpe leads the team in innings pitched (34.2), strikeouts (19), wins (3) and ERA (5.25).
