#5 SIUE COUGARS (26-24, 12-10 Ohio Valley)
VS. #8 MOREHEAD STATE EAGLES (11-32, 6-18 Ohio Valley)

Wednesday, May 10, 12:30 p.m.
Oxford, Ala./Choccolocco Park

Follow the Game
Video: ESPN+
Audio: None
Live Stats: SIUEStats.com

2023 OVC Softball Championship Schedule
Wednesday, May 10
*Game 1 - #6 Tennessee State vs. #7 Lindenwood - 10 a.m.
*Game 2 - #5 SIUE vs #8 Morehead State - 12:30 p.m.
Game 3 - #3 Southern Indiana vs. Game 1 winner - 3 p.m.
Game 4 - #4 UT Martin vs. Game 2 winner - 5:30 p.m.
*Please note Games 1 and 2 are single elimination
 
Thursday, May 11
Game 5 - #2 Eastern Illinois vs. Game 3 winner - 10 a.m.
Game 6 - #1 Southeast Missouri vs. Game 4 winner - 12:30 p.m.
Game 7 - Game 4 loser vs. Game 5 loser - 3 p.m.
Game 8 - Game 3 loser vs. Game 6 loser - 5:30 p.m.
 
Friday, May 12
Game 9 - Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner - 11 a.m.
Game 10 - Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner - 1:30 p.m.
Game 11 - Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 loser - 4 p.m.
 
Saturday, May 13
Game 12 - Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner - 11 a.m.
(If necessary, Game 13 follows approximately 30 min. after Game 12)
ALL TIMES CENTRAL

HOW COUGARS GOT HERE: SIUE started the regular season 0-6 and 1-9 overall as well as the Ohio Valley Conference regular season 0-8 yet still finished with a winning record overall (26-24) and in conference play (12-10). The Cougars won their last five OVC series, including a sweep last weekend over Lindenwood.
WINNING STREAK: SIUE has won its last six games, the longest winning streak of the season.
FAIRING WELL LATELY: SIUE is 8-2 over its last 10 games. After starting the OVC season slow, the Cougars finished 12-2 with OVC series wins over Tennessee State, Southern Indiana, Tennessee Tech, Morehead State and Lindenwood.
AGAINST MOREHEAD STATE: SIUE swept Morehead State on the road, outscoring the Eagles 23-6.
HIT MACHINE: SIUE's 1-2 punch of Paige Rocha and Lexi King are tied for the OVC lead in hits this season with 63. Rocha has reached base in a team-leading 20 straight games coming into the tournament.
BACK-TO-BACK: King is the second player in the Division I era to have 60 or more hits in two seasons at SIUE (Alex McDavid). The most hits in a season during the Division I era is Haley Chambers Book who had 69 in 2015. King had 68 hits during the 2022 season.
TOP OF THE ORDER: Rocha leads the Cougars in batting average (.404), slugging percentage (.615), on-base percentage (.469), walks (18) and is tied in home runs (6).
PITCHING EFFORT: Over her last 10 appearances, Sydney Baalman is 6-0 with two shutouts and a 0.89 earned run average.
SAVES LEADER: Kelsey Ray leads the OVC with five saves. She also is second in the OVC in strikeouts with 102 in 127 1/3 innings pitched.
LUEKE PEAKING: Grace Lueke did not start playing until the OVC season due to injuries sustained at the end of last season. Lueke has been surging of late. Over her last 10 games, she has a .444 batting average (12-27) with four doubles, three home runs, 11 RBIs and 25 total bases.
ONE MORE FOR 20: Lueke needs one more home run for 20. She would become the second Cougar in the Division I era to hit 20 in a career (Zoe Schafer).
OVER THE LAST 10: SIUE is batting .333 as a team over the last 10 games. Lueke, Rocha, King and Emma Neuman all have 11 or more hits during that stretch. The Cougars are hitting .310 with runners in scoring position over the last 10 games. Lueke, Rocha and Micah Arps all are hitting better than .400 in that situation.
DOUBLE UP: King has 16 doubles this season, which is the most by a Cougar in the Division I era. SIUE's record is 25 by Erin Newman (2000).
RBI LEADERS: First baseman Emma Neuman leads the Cougars with 26 RBIs. She is just ahead of Rocha (25) and King (24).
START OF AN ERA: After spending nearly the last decade as an assistant coach in the Big Ten Conference, Ben Sorden was tapped as the new leader of the SIUE softball program. Sorden comes to SIUE after holding positions at Michigan State and Indiana, helping the pitching staffs to national honors and top-notch results. The Lone Tree, Iowa, native most recently spent five seasons at Michigan State, where the Spartans sported a 2.38 earned run average and a 1.11 WHIP over 350 innings of play.