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

SOMERS, Wis. (Apr. 24, 2015)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside softball team closes the books on the 2015 season this weekend, welcoming Great Lakes Valley Conference rivals Drury University and Missouri University S&T to the Case Complex.
 
The Rangers and Panthers square off on Sunday with a doubleheader getting underway at noon while Parkside and Missouri S&T hit the diamond at 11 a.m. on Monday.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (7-32, 2-22 GLVC) returns home after a four-game set in Kansas City against William Jewell College and Rockhurst University.
 
The Rangers opened the trip against Jewell, seizing an early 4-0 lead in the opener before ultimately falling 12-5 to the hosts. A six run sixth inning allowed the Cardinals to pull away in the opener before piling on five runs in the third inning of game two to earn an 8-2 win and secure the sweep.
 
On Monday, Carly Dundee drove in three runs and tossed a complete game, guiding the Rangers to a 4-3 victory in the opener before having a seventh inning rally cut short in an 8-4 setback in game two. In the nightcap, the Rangers had the tying run at the plate with two outs but were unable to muster and more runs, settling for a series split.
 
Courtney Ellingson leads the team in hitting, owning a .357 batting average with 14 extra base hits and 20 RBIs while Kalli Gosser is hitting to the tune of .331 with six doubles and 13 RBIs. Madison Manders owns a .300 average with eight extra base knocks and Carly Dundee has 16 RBIs and a team-leading five home runs.
 
Ellingson has been the workhorse all season inside the circle, logging 109 2/3 innings of work, tossing 11 complete games and striking out 70 while carting a 4.02 earned run average. Amber Ramos has 54 punchouts in 38 2/3 innings of action, sporting a team-best 3.26 ERA while Dundee has seven complete games and 48 strikeouts in 94 2/3 innings inside the circle.
 
About the Panthers: Drury (23-25, 10-16 GLVC) heads to Wisconsin riding a seven-game win streak and winning nine of its last 10 games. The Panthers lone setback during that stretch was a 3-0 defeat to the University of Illinois Springfield in game one of a doubleheader on April 17. Drury rebounded with a 5-3 victory in game two to salvage a split before claiming doubleheader sweeps at the expense of McKendree University (7-0 and 3-2) and non-conference foes Lincoln University and Rogers State University.
 
Against McKendree last Saturday, the Panthers crushed the Bearcats 7-0 in the opener before needing a late solo home run in the sixth inning to escape with the sweep, claiming a 3-2 win in game two. The Panthers edged Lincoln 3-2 and 4-1 on Tuesday afternoon before stomping Rogers State 6-2 and 8-0 on Thursday night.
 
Kari Hillenburg is hitting .358 on the season to lead Drury, collecting 11 doubles while Carson Forge has a .338 average with a team-leading 12 home runs and 37 RBIs.
 
In the circle, Jessica Kieldgaard and Shelby Weissenbach have combined to toss 287 1/3 innings for the Panthers. Kieldgaard has a team-best 2.24 earned run average with 110 strikeouts and six shutouts while notching 14 wins and four saves. Weissenbach has 11 complete games to her name while fanning 62 batters on the year.

About the Miners: Missouri S&T (9-26, 6-20 GLVC) heads into the weekend having won three of its last four games. The Miners closed out its home slate last weekend, sweeping McKendree last Friday before earning a split with the Illinois Springfield on Saturday.
 
Against McKendree, the Miners slipped away with a 4-3 win in the opener before collecting a 9-6 win in game two. The following day, S&T netted a 4-2 decision in the opener before getting blanked 2-0 in the nightcap by the Prairie Stars.
 
S&T has struggled away from home all season, owning just a 3-20 record in games played outside the city limits of Rolla, Missouri.
 
Andi Davis owns the best batting average on the team, sporting a .390 average while Shelby Michaelis owns a .381 average with eight doubles, five home runs and 19 RBIs. Michaelis, who also owns a team-leading .602 slugging percentage, has been a menace on the basepaths, stealing 13 bases in 2015. Savannah Fedorchak is hitting at a .333 clip while Kyra Slemp and Monica Weiss are both hitting above .300 with a combined 23 RBIs between the two.
 
In the circle, Becca Strope has a 2.76 earned run average to power the Miners, while Kati Viets leads the team in innings pitched (106 1/3), complete games (nine), and strikeouts (39).
 
Senior Salute: Sunday is Senior Day as the Rangers will honor their lone senior Therese Jender. A Rockford, Illinois native, Jender has played the last two seasons with UW-Parkside, making 46 appearances and starting 29 games. The exercise science major joined the Rangers after two seasons at Sauk Valley Community College, helping the Skyhawks win the NJCAA Region IV Championship and place seventh at the NJCAA Division II Championships in 2013.