The University of Illinois Springfield softball team continues GLVC play this weekend with two road doubleheaders. The Prairie Stars are at Southern Indiana on Saturday afternoon, followed by a trip to McKendree on Sunday.
 
UIS is 14-8 on the season prior to facing Minnesota State Moorhead in non-conference action on Thursday. The Prairie Stars are 0-4 in GLVC play, losing doubleheaders to Lindenwood and Missouri-St. Louis in the first week of conference action. UIS was competitive in all four games, with two going to extra innings, and another decided by just a single run.
 
The Prairie Stars will look to get out to a quicker start in the GLVC games this week. UIS is outscoring its opponents by a 90-30 margin in the first four innings of games this year, and it is 12-1 when leading after four innings. The Prairie Stars were either tied or trailed though in each of their previous four games.
 
Payton Long and Reagan Miles both had good performances on the mound last week. Long held opponents to a .232 batting average, while Miles allowed opponents to hit just .234. They combined for 13 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings of work.
 
Danielle Dennis batted .385 in the four GLVC games, and had a hit in each of the games. Zoie Bowman had two RBI, and Kayana Diederich and Ella Brinkley both scored twice.
  
UIS vs. Southern Indiana
Date/Time/Location: Saturday, March 19, 12:00 p.m. – Evansville, Ind.
Streaming: https://glvcsn.com/usi/
Live Stats: https://gousieagles.com/sidearmstats/softball/
All-Time Series: USI leads 16-6

Southern Indiana has its GLVC opener on Saturday against the Prairie Stars. The Screaming Eagles will enter the contests with a 14-8 overall record. The squad has been off since March 4-8, when it went 4-2 at the The Spring Games in Florida.
 
Southern Indiana has one of the top scoring offenses in the GLVC. It is second in the league with 6.45 runs a game, and also second in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. On the mound, the Screaming Eagles have a 3.42 ERA.
 
Hailey Gotshall is the top starter with a 4-0 record and 3.07 ERA. Josie Newman has struck out 45 in her 37 innings of work, and opponents are batting just .266 off of her. Offensively, Kennedy Nalley leads the team as she has 21 runs and 22 RBI in her 22 games.
 
UIS swept the regular season doubleheader with Southern Indiana last year. It won the first game in extra innings by an 8-7 score, and then took game two by a 10-2 margin.
 
UIS vs. McKendree
Date/Time/Location: Sunday, March 20, 2:00 p.m. – Lebanon, Ill.
Streaming: https://www.glvcsn.com/mckendree/
Live Stats: https://mckbearcats.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary
All-Time Series (Since 2011): Series tied 8-8

Regional rival McKendree is currently 9-11 on the season, prior to a doubleheader with Quincy on Saturday. The Bearcats started GLVC play with a 1-3 mark, splitting with Lewis and losing both ends of a doubleheader against Indianapolis.
 
McKendree is one of the top power teams in the GLVC, hitting 0.60 home runs a game and having a .440 slugging percentage. They are third in the conference with 5.55 runs a game, while the pitching staff has a 4.99 ERA.
 
Half of the team's home runs have come from Olivia Stansbury. She leads the team with a .429 batting average, .857 slugging percentage, 19 runs, 19 RBI, and six homers.
 
UIS and McKendree split their regular season games a year ago. UIS scored three runs in its final at-bat for a 3-2 win in the opener, but McKendree bounced back for an 11-2 victory in the second game.
 
Up Next
UIS returns to LOLJOS for its next GLVC games with doubleheaders on March 26 and 27 against Lewis and Indianapolis, respectively.