vs. Lindenwood
St. Charles, Mo. (Lou Brock Sports Complex)

Saturday, March 9
Noon start (DH)

Sunday, March 10
1 p.m. start

Video
None

Live Stats
https://lindenwoodlions.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary

OVC OPENER
This weekend's action against Lindenwood is the official start to Ohio Valley Conference regular season.  The league schedule includes a three-game series against each of the other nine teams.

OVC SERIES BREAKDOWN
SIUE has away series against Lindenwood (3/8-9), UT Martin (3/23-24), Tennessee State (4/13-14), and Tennessee Tech (4/27-28). The Cougars play host to OVC series against Southeast Missouri (3/16-17), Eastern Illinois (3/29-30), Western Illinois (4/6-7), Southern Indiana (4/20-21), and Morehead State (4/4-5)

SERIES RECORDS
SIUE is 3-0 all-time against Lindenwood having only first played the Lions last season. All three games were played at Cougar Field.

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.

MORE THAN ONE DOUBLE
Paige Rocha is No. 2 in the nation and No. 1 in the OVC in doubles with 11. She had five doubles during play last weekend at the Cougar Invite. Rocha is seventh nationally in doubles per game (0.61).

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 29 hits during the first 18 games.

LEAGUE LEADERS
Rylie Pindel is No. 1 in the OVC with three saves. Jenna Herron leads the OVC in sacrifice buns per game (0.28). Lauren Yslava leads the OVC in Toughest to Strike Out, having fanned just three times in 54 at bats. Rocha also leads the league in total bases with 44.

100 STRIKEOUTS
Baalman and Ray were neck and neck in strikeouts last season. Ray finished ahead with 103 in 132.2 innings pitched. Baalman recorded 101 in 154.2 innings pitched. Ray has 30 while Baalman has 19 this season.

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.