FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

SOMERS, Wis. (Apr. 10, 2014)-- Long overdue, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside softball team will finally play at the friendly confines of the Case Complex, opening up its home slate this weekend with doubleheaders against Great Lakes Valley Conference foes Rockhurst University and William Jewell College.
 
The Rangers and Hawks will take the diamond on Friday afternoon at 12 p.m. while Parkside and William Jewell will square off at 12 p.m. on Saturday. Saturday's doubleheader is also "Turn Up the Pink," the Rangers sixth annual Pink Game in support of breast cancer research. All proceeds of the event go to the Susan G. Komen fund. Last season the team raised about $2,000 for the fund from selling t-shirts, raffle tickets and donations.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (2-20, 2-14 GLVC) looks to snap a seven-game slide and notch its first win in April. The Rangers downed Saint Joseph's College 7-1 on Mar. 31 before dropping game two 13-12 in extra innings. Since then, Parkside has been swept by Bellarmine University (2-1 in eight innings and 5-0), University of Southern Indiana (10-1 and 6-4 in nine innings), and Division I University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (12-1 and 12-2).
 
Kira Cooper is the Rangers' leading hitter with a .432 batting average while Kalli Gosser is hitting .343 on the year with four doubles. Alexis Simone has a pair of home runs and is hitting at a .288 clip while Samantha Magruder is sporting a .278 average. Kirsten Luevano leads the team in both home runs and RBIs with three and 16, respectively.
 
Carly Dundee leads the Ranger pitching staff in earned run average (5.25), appearances (14), complete games (5), innings pitched (65 1/3) and strikeouts (28). Hayley Schneider has a 6.62 ERA in 30 2/3 innings of action while Kristin Kleinmeyer has 22 strikeouts in 32 innings of work.
 
About the Hawks: Rockhurst (13-21, 8-12 GLVC) snapped a five game slide last weekend, earning a doubleheader split with visiting Quincy University.
 
The Hawk's slide began on Mar. 30, getting swept 7-4 and 2-1 by University of Missouri-Saint Louis before dropping a pair to Truman State University (6-2 & 7-1) at home. Rockhurst fell 4-3 to Quincy on April 6 before emerging with a 3-2 win in the nightcap to snap the skid.
 
Demi Palthe is the team's leading hitter with a .379 batting average and 11 extra base hits. Alex Jacobson is hitting .327 with a team-high 10 home runs and 24 RBIs.
 
In the circle, Bridgette Sappington and Plathe share the load. Sappington leads the team in ERA (3.49), wins (10), complete games (10), innings pitched (136 1/3) and strikeouts (87) while Plathe sports a 3.90 ERA in 82 2/3 innings of work with 33 strikeouts.
 
About the Cardinals: William Jewell (18-16, 11-9 GLVC) heads into the weekend riding a three-game win streak and having won eight of its last nine games. The Cardinals lone blemish during that stretch was an 8-1 setback to Truman State University on April 6. Jewell rebounded with a 5-3 win over Truman in the nightcap before sweeping Lincoln University 5-3 and 12-0 on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Kelsey Morgan is the Cardinals leading hitter with a .374 batting average and a team-best nine home runs and 30 RBIs. Faith Song has 14 extra base hits with a .311 average and 23 RBIs while Kelsey Teneycke is also hitting .311 on the season.
 
Rachel Hayden is the squad's ace, pitching a team-high 106 1/3 innings with a team-leading 2.17 earned run average with 40 strikeouts. Hayden additionally has tossed 13 complete games and owns a record of 10-4 inside the circle. Faith Song has a 3.98 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 89 2/3 innings of work.