SIUE COUGARS (12-19, 0-7 Ohio Valley)
VS. WESTERN ILLINOIS LEATHERNECKS (7-21, 1-2 Summit League)

Tuesday, April 4, 2 p.m. DH
Macomb, Ill./ Mary Ellen McKee Field

Follow the Game
Video: https://goleathernecks.com/watch/?Live=1716&type=Live
Audio: None
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/wiu/softball/

SCHEDULE UPDATE: SIUE's doubleheader at Western Illinois has been shifted to start at 2 p.m.
BACK-TO-BACK: SIUE softball had a pair of shutouts in its last outing, besting Kansas City 3-0 and 2-0 in a doubleheader sweep. Kansas City and Western Illinois both are members of the Summit League. Kelsey Ray and Sydney Baalman provided back-to-back shutouts.
FILL IN THE BLANKS: SIUE now leads the Ohio Valley Conference in shutouts this season with six. Ray and Baalman each had two solo shutouts and one shared shutout. Lexi King also threw a shutout this season.
PINCH HIT POWER: Hayley Palm hit a three-run, pinch-hit home run last Tuesday at Illinois. It was her first home run in a Cougar uniform. The homer also was the second pinch-hit home run of the season for the Cougars. Grace Lueke had one against Southeast Missouri. Palm was inserted into the starting lineup against Kansas City and added three more hits. She is now batting .262 for the season.
BYE WEEK: SIUE is coming off its bye week in the OVC. SIUE's next action in the OVC is at home April 7-8 against Tennessee State.
SERIES VS. WESTERN ILLINOIS: SIUE is 6-4 against Western Illinois dating back to when statistics were kept at SIUE. The Cougars won the last two meetings, a doubleheader in Edwardsville back in 2016.
NECK AND NECK: SIUE's Lexi King and Paige Rocha have been 1-2 in the Cougar batting order for most of the season as well as the top two hitters in the lineup. King is now the team's leading hitter at .402 with a team-best 39 hits. Rocha is close behind at .382.
ROCHA LEADS THE LEAGUE: Rocha leads the OVC in runs scored per game (0.80). She has 24 runs scored in 30 games played.
IN THE CIRCLE: Ray is tied for the OVC lead in saves with three. She is ranked 16th nationally in that statistical category. She also leads the Cougars in earned run average at 2.80.
SCOUTING THE LEATHERNECKS: Western Illinois is coming off a Summit League series loss to North Dakota State. WIU won game one 6-5 in eight innings and then dropped a 1-0 game and a 13-4 contest in five innings. Bella Alvarez leads WIU in hitting at .329.
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.