SPRINGFIELD, IL --- Winners of three straight, the Prairie Stars (6-10) will look to continue their winnings streak as they begin play in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Prairie Stars upended Walsh to close out the Lewis Dome Invitational before traveling to Oakland City and picking up two victories. In GLVC softball, all 16 teams compete against one another, and the top-eight teams make the conference tournament, regardless of division.

SETTING THE SCENE
As stated, UIS has won their last three games much in art to their offense. They scored a 5-0 win over Walsh behind a ten-hit performance which included three doubles, before winning 6-3 and 10-1 over Oakland City.

Truman State holds an 8-6 record on the season and has won five of their last six games. This series will serve as the first home games for Truman State, who are 5-2 on a neutral site and 3-4 on the road.

Quincy has started the season 5-7 but has lost four of their last five. They have seen similar success against the same opponents as UIS. Both teams have losses to Grand Valley State, Findlay, and Upper Iowa and both teams beat Walsh.

BATS COMING ALIVE
After a relatively slow start to the season, the Prairie Star bats have begun to come alive, most notably, the bat of Amanda Gosbeth. UIS has three players hitting over .300 on the season and six players with at least 11 hits. Nearly one of every three hits for the Prairie Stars goes for extra bases, as they have 24 doubles, three triples, and eight homeruns already this season.

Amanda Gosbeth led the offensive attack last week at Oakland City, going 6-for-8 on the weekend, in which every hit went for extra bases --- four doubles and two homeruns. Her first homerun was a game winning two-run shot in the top of the eighth, while her next served up a quick three run lead in the top of the first.

Brittany Miller still leads the team in average, hitting .349 on the season while also drawing a team-high six walks and getting hit four times, good for a .472 on-base percentage. Haley Inman and Madi Torry continue to have breakout freshman seasons and Torry has started in all 16 games while Inman has successfully stolen 12 of 13 bases this year.

IN THE CIRCLE
 Freshman Jaycee Craver and senior Alexandria Smith have mostly split time in the circle this season. Craver boasts a 5-4 record so far but it was Smith's two-hit shutout of Walsh that got the Prairie Stars started on the three game winning streak.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Truman State
The Bulldogs will open up the home portion of their schedule this weekend and will look to win their six game in their last seven. Pitching is their strong suit as they only hit .240 as a team and have just two players hitting over .300. Their pitching staff consists of Kelsea Dorsey and Kindra Henze who boast ERA's of 1.85 and 2.60, respectively. Combined they have 85 strikeouts in 86.2 innings opposed to just 29 walks --- 23 from Henze.

Truman State is led on offense by the freshman-sophomore duo of Riley Cook and Christa Reisinger. Cook leads the team, hitting .372 but Reisinger is right behind with a .356 average and has stolen 14 bases on 16 attempts.

Quincy
The Hawks come into the weekend having lose four of their last five games and will face McKendree twice before hosting UIS. This will also be the first home weekend for the Hawks as they have played all 12 of their games at neutral sites.

The Hawks hit just .216 as a team and have just one player above the .300 mark. In the circle, they have five pitchers who have gotten significant innings, none of which are averaging more than a strikeout per inning.

BY THE NUMBERS
The Prairie Stars have scored in the first inning in seven of their 16 games so far this season but have also surrendered runs in the first inning nine times. UIS has taken a lead out of the first inning five times this season and has been the first team to score seven times.

Rachel Goff and Molly Manietta have each hit safely in four consecutive games while Ashli King has currently reached-base in eight straight games.

Only Torry and Miller have started every game in the same position --- Torry in centerfield and Miller as designated player.

WHO'S ON DECK
After the opening weekend of GLVC play with Truman State and Quincy, the Prairie Stars will have a week off until they host Maryville and UMSL in their GLVC home opener. Both doubleheaders will begin at noon as the Prairie Stars will face the reigning Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II National Pitcher of the Week in Hannah Perryman.