at Evansville
Evansville, Ind. (Cooper Stadium)

Tuesday, March 19
5 p.m. start

Live Video: None
Live Stats: SIUEstats.com

ROAD SWING
Tuesday's contest at Evansville is the start of five-game road swing for the Cougars. This weekend, the Cougars have a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at UT Martin. Next Wednesday, SIUE travels for a single game at Illinois
LAST TIME OUT
The Cougars dropped a 7-4 decision to Southeast Missouri.
SERIES RECORDS
SIUE is 12-6 all-time against the Purple Aces. Last season, SIUE defeated Evansville 6-3 at Cooper Stadium. Kelsey Ray was the winning pitcher in that contest while Sydney Baalman picked up a save. 
LAST SEASON FOR THE COUGARS
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.
LONGEST HITTING STREAK
Paige Rocha holds the longest hitting streak in Division I heading into the Evansville game. She has recorded a hit in 19 straight games, reaching back to the Texas A&M Commerce series in February. The school record is 27 set by SIUE Hall of Famer Erin Newman in 2001.
SIUE'S TOP FOUR HITTING STREAKS OF DIVISION I ERA
19, Paige Rocha (2024); 15, Alyssa Heren (2017); 15, Paige Rocha (2022); 14, Lexi King (2022)
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 40 hits this season. She is ranked 18th nationally while leading the OVC.
LEAGUE LEADERS
Jenna Herron leads the OVC in sacrifice bunts per game (0.23). Rocha leads the OVC in total bases (58). Lauren Yslava and Anna Henderson are No. 1 and No. 3 in the OVC in toughest to strike out.
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.