vs. Kansas City (DH)
Edwardsville, Ill. (Cougar Field)
Wednesday, March 13
2 p.m. start
Video: None
Live Stats:
SIUEstats.com
QUICK HITS
MIDWEEK ACTION
SIUE welcomes Kansas City to Cougar Field for a midweek doubleheader. Kansas City holds a 6-18 record overall this season pending a Tuesday afternoon home matchup against Western Illinois. Kansas City started the week with a 10-game losing streak.
LAST TIME OUT
The Cougars fell in the rubber game of a three-game series at Lindenwood. The Cougars are just one game out of first place in the Ohio Valley Conference since all five OVC series ended in one team winning two out of three games. There were no league sweeps last weekend.
SERIES RECORDS
SIUE is 3-0 all-time against Kansas City. The first meeting was in Southaven, Mississippi, back in 2013 when the Cougars were 4-2 winners. The Cougars swept the Roos 3-0 and 2-0 last season in Kansas City.
LAST SEASON
SIUE is coming off a 30-26 season in which the Cougars advanced to the title game of the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The Cougars won 10 of their last 12 games and the season-best six straight games to close out the regular season. SIUE, the No. 5 seed at the 2023 OVC Championships, knocked out the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds in the tournament.
NO. 2 NATIONALLY
Paige Rocha is No. 2 in the nation and No. 1 in the OVC in doubles with 12. Rocha is fifth nationally in doubles per game (0.57).
HIT MACHINE
Rocha recorded a Division I era-best 74 hits last season. It was the most hits by a Cougar since Alicia DeShasier hit 82 in 2006. All four of the players who have more hits in a season by the Cougars now reside in the SIUE Athletics Hall of Fame (DeShasier, Jenny Esker, Katie Waldo and Erin Newman). Rocha continued that trend with a team-leading 33 hits during the first 18 games. She is ranked 29th nationally while leading the OVC.
LEAGUE LEADERS
Jenna Herron leads the OVC in sacrifice bunts per game (0.24). Rocha leads the OVC in total bases (50). Lauren Yslava and
Anna Henderson are No. 1 and No. 2 in the OVC in toughest to strike out.
SHUTOUT
Right-handed pitcher
Kelsey Ray recorded her first shutout of the season last weekend at Lindenwood, a 10-0 romp in six innings.
YEAR TWO
Lone Tree, Iowa, native
Ben Sorden is in his second season as head coach of the Cougars. Sorden came to SIUE after holding positions at Michigan State and Indiana, helping the pitching staffs to national honors and top-notch results.
