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

SOMERS, Wis. (Mar. 28, 2016)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside softball squad returns to the friendly confines of the Case Complex for a pair of midweek doubleheaders against Great Lakes Valley Conference nemesis Lewis University and in-state foe University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
 
The Rangers and Flyers hit the diamond on Tuesday with first pitch slated for 3 p.m. while UW-Parkside and the Division I Phoenix square off on Thursday at 3 p.m. Live stats will be available for both doubleheaders.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (3-25, 0-12 GLVC) returns from its tour of the Hoosier State empty handed after dropping doubleheaders to both Saint Joseph's College and second-ranked University of Indianapolis.
 
On Friday against Saint Joe's, the Rangers owned a 5-2 advantage heading into the bottom of the eighth inning only to see the Pumas tie the contest with a three-run outburst. In the 10th, it was host SJC that emerged with the win, pulling out the 6-5 decision. In the nightcap, UW-Parkside owned a 2-0 lead after three innings of action but surrendered five runs in the fourth inning and four more in the sixth in the 9-4 setback.
 
Against GLVC juggernaut UIndy, All-American pitcher Morgan Foley proved to be the difference-maker, tossing 10 of the 14 innings and collecting 21 strikeouts as the Greyhounds posted 6-0 and 5-0 victories.
 
Carly Dundee paces the Rangers at the dish, owning a team-best .330 batting average and a .382 on-base percentage with nine extra base hits and 19 RBIs. Rachel Seefeldt has touched home plate a team-high 14 times in 2016, sporting a .282 batting average with three doubles and two home runs. Raegan Fingerman has 11 RBis on the season while Emily Bell has eight along with a team-leading four stolen bases.
 
Inside the circle, Dundee posts a team-leading 4.16 earned run average with 12 complete games. The junior is a workhorse for the Rangers, pitching 101 innings with 49 strikeouts. Amber Ramos sports a 4.38 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings of work while Bridget Jost has 16 strikeouts on the year.
 
About the Flyers: Lewis (15-16, 4-8 GLVC) split its weekend slate, getting swept 5-0 and 10-2 by second-ranked Indianapolis before downing Saint Joseph's 10-2 and 11-2 on Saturday.
 
Against UIndy, the Flyers fell victim to Morgan Foley as the All-American struck out 13 LU batters in game one while offensively the Hounds tallied three home runs in the shutout win. In game two a seven-run first inning by UIndy proved to be more than adequate as the hosts posted the 10-2 mercy rule victory.
 
The shoe was on the other foot on Saturday, pushing across five runs in the opening two innings in a 10-2 win over Saint Joe's. In game two, the Flyers claimed an early 4-0 lead after two frames and never looked back for the 11-2 win.
 
Four Flyers are hitting above .300 on the season, including Jenna Cairo who boasts a team-leading .472 batting average with 14 extra base hits and 15 RBIs. Cairo has additionally scored a team-best 31 runs through the first 31 games of the season. Kaylee Prieto sports a .361 average with four triples and 16 RBIs while Carly Jaworski is hitting at a .333 clip with a team-best 17 RBIs.
 
Four Lewis pitchers have logged at least 33 innings in the circle with Lainie Schweickert leading the team in both earned run average (3.48) and strikeouts (46). Ali Brems has a team-best 6-4 record in the circle while pitching a team-high 58 2/3 innings while Dara Sanders and Paige Fossey have 32 and 28 strikeouts on the season, respectively.
 
About the Phoenix: Division I UW-Green Bay (9-22, 0-3 Horizon League) heads to Somers looking to snap a four-game slide. The Phoenix earned a doubleheader split against Florida Gulf Coast University on Mar. 16, downing the host Eagles 7-1 in the opener before ending up on the wrong side of a 10-2 mercy rule decision in the nightcap. UWGB opened the lid on Horizon League play over the weekend, dropping three games to Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. The Raiders blanked UWGB 7-0 in the opening game on Friday before netting 14-6 and 5-3 wins on Saturday.
 
Allie Taylor and Abby Brinkmeier are the two UWGB players hitting above .300 with Taylor owning a .315 average with five home runs and 15 RBIs while Brinkmeier owns a .311 average with a team-leading .394 on-base percentage.
 
Bailey Smaney is the Phoenix staff ace, pitching 73 1/3 innings with 23 strikeouts and a team-best 4.39 earned run average. Katie Rossmann has made 16 appearances for Green Bay, collecting four complete games and one save in 47 2/3 innings of labor.
 
Early Opener: UW-Parkside's home opener on March 19 against Quincy University was the earliest the Green and White have played at the Case Complex since the 2011 season. In 2011, the Rangers faced the exact same foe on the exact same day, falling 2-1 and 5-1 to the Hawks on Mar. 19. UW-Parkside hasn't played any earlier in March at home since at least the 2002 campaign.
 
Hot Start: All three wins this season have come when the Rangers strike first. UW-Parkside took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning against Lindenwood, owned a 1-0 edge in the second in the extra innings win over Northeastern State, and piled on four runs in the opening frame in the team's blowout win over Findlay.
 
Legend of the Phoenix: Last season, UW-Parkside traveled to UWGB's Phoenix Field on April 1 and emerged with a 10-2 mercy rule upset in the first game of the series. Powering the Rangers to the win was a five-run outburst in the second inning while Carly Dundee collected the win inside the circle while also shining at the plate with a three-for-three performance with four RBIs.

Hitting Streaks: Raegan Fingerman owns the longest hitting streak of the young season, collecting base hits in 11 consecutive contests. Fingerman's streak began against Saint Cloud State University on Feb. 13 and came to a close on Feb. 28 as the junior had just one opportunity at the plate as a pinch hitter. Highlighting the streak was a three hit, three-RBI effort in the squad's win over Findlay.
 
More Streaks: Madison Manders owns the longest streak this season for safely reaching base, doing so in 14 consecutive games. Kellie Fenza owns the longest active streak, touching first base in six consecutive contests.
 
3x10: UW-Parkside has gone into extra innings on three occasions this season with all three contests extended to the 10th inning. International tiebreaker rules went into effect in two of the three games with a runner placed on second to start the 10th-inning. The Rangers fell 7-6 to Rogers State University in the first 10-inning affair on Feb. 20 before taking down Northeastern State University 9-7 two days later. UW-Parkside's most recent 10-inning escapade was a 6-5 defeat to host Saint Joseph's College on Mar. 25.
 
2x12: A total of 12 Rangers have experienced multiple hit games during the 2016 season with Carly Dundee leading the way by accomplishing the feat on nine occasions. Additionally, 10 different Rangers have experienced multi-RBI games with Dundee and Raegan Fingerman both achieving the feat three times to lead the squad.
 
Road Warriors: The Rangers played 20 road games prior to the March 19 home opener against GLVC rival Quincy University. UW-Parkside's road odyssey involved games in four different states, logging indoor contests in both Minnesota and Illinois along with outdoor games in Missouri and Oklahoma.
 
Preseason Prognostications: The Rangers received 24 points in the poll to slot 16th in the annual GLVC preseason coaches' poll. Three-time defending league champion University of Missouri-Saint Louis secured the top spot with 10 of the 16 first place votes and 220 total points while the University of Indianapolis was picked second with the remaining six first place endorsements and 216 points. Truman State University was picked third with Bellarmine University rounding out the top four.
 
The GLVC will conduct a true round-robin schedule for the second consecutive season with every team facing the other 15 GLVC schools in a doubleheader. The top eight teams by winning percentage will qualify for the GLVC Tournament held from April 29-May 1 in East Peoria, Illinois.