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

SOMERS, Wis. (Apr. 7, 2016)-- Wet and wintery conditions have truncated what was supposed to be the start of a nine-game homestand for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside softball squad with the Rangers now hitting the road this weekend to face a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference opponents across two time zones. UW-Parkside begins the weekend in Louisville, Kentucky with a doubleheader against Bellarmine University before closing the trip on Sunday with two games against the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville.
 
Action gets underway at 12 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Saturday with the Rangers and Knights playing two games at Knights Field in Louisville. On Sunday, the Rangers and Screaming Eagles hit the diamond at noon for a two-game set at the USI Softball Field in Evansville before returning home to the Case Complex on Wednesday for a resumption of last week's halted game against Lewis University that will begin at 3 p.m.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (4-29, 1-16 GLVC) returns home after a four-game tour of Illinois last weekend. A five-run fifth inning sabotaged the Rangers in the opener on Saturday against McKendree University, falling 8-3 before the host Bearcats claimed game two by a 7-1 margin. On Sunday, University of Illinois Springfield manufactured the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth, escaping with the 3-2 victory before downing the Rangers 7-0 in the nightcap.
 
Carly Dundee leads the Rangers offensively, carrying a .346 batting average into the weekend with seven doubles, five home runs, and 21 RBIs. The junior has additionally scored 15 runs on the season while boasting a .417 on-base percentage. Raegan Fingerman has driven in 12 RBIs while Rachel Seefeldt has scored 16 runs.
 
In the circle, Dundee is the workhorse, logging 115 2/3 innings of action and striking out 57 with an earned run average of 4.24. Amber Ramos has 44 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings of labor while Bridget Jost has netted 21 strikeouts in 16 appearances.
 
About the Knights: Bellarmine (21-21, 10-8 GLVC) had its six-game win streak snapped on Sunday, dropping both ends of a doubleheader to No. 1-ranked University of Indianapolis. The Knights mustered just two hits in the opener, falling 2-0 before succumbing 9-3 to the Greyhounds in game two.
 
Prior to the UIndy series, Bellarmine ripped off doubleheader sweeps of GLVC foes Illinois Springfield on Mar. 26 (8-0 and 2-1), travel-partner Southern Indiana on Mar. 29 (8-3 and 8-1) and Saint Joseph's College on Saturday (4-0 and 4-3).
 
Ally Foster paces the Knights at the plate, owning a .386 batting average with 24 extra base hits and 26 RBIs. Kelly Ely has a .359 average with 22 RBIs while Marlee Tevis has a .337 average with nine home runs and 25 RBIs.
 
In the circle, Foster and Madeline Kurtz have shouldered a majority of the heavy lifting, boasting earned run averages of 1.34 and 3.48, respectively. Foster has 141 strikeouts in 135 1/3 innings of work with a 14-7 record and 11 complete games while Kurtz has 60 strikeouts and two shutouts in 106 2/3 innings.
 
About the Screaming Eagles: Southern Indiana (26-12, 14-4 GLVC) heads into the weekend having won three of its last four games. The Screaming Eagles opened last weekend with a 2-1 setback to No. 1 Indianapolis before pounding the Hounds 12-3 in a mercy rule shortened game two. USi continued its momentum of Sunday, downing Saint Joseph's 5-1 and 5-4.
 
Southern Indiana has been a tough squad to beat at home, boasting a 15-1 record this season at the USI Softball Field with the lone blemish coming by one run to the nation's top ranked team.
 
Haley Hodges highlights the USI offense, sporting a .435 batting average and a .515 on-base percentage with 14 home runs and 50 RBIs. Marleah Fossett is hitting .383 at the plate with 21 RBIs while Lexi Reese has 11 doubles and 31 RBIs with a .354 average.
 
Haylee Smith leads the Eagles in the circle, tossing a team-high 99 1/3 innings with 10 complete games and a 2.61 earned run average. Sarah Owens paces the staff in strikeouts with 82 in 97 1/3 innings of work while boasting a 10-3 record inside the circle.
 
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 four 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. UW-Parkside's latest triumph was a 5-0 shutout of Lewis, putting up three runs in the opening frame.
 
Hitting Streaks: Raegan Fingerman owns the longest hitting streak of the 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 the University of Findlay.
 
More Streaks: Madison Manders owns the longest streak this season for safely reaching base, doing so in 14 consecutive games. Carly Dundee has the longest active streak, touching first base in five consecutive games.
 
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 12 occasions, including two outings with three hits. Additionally, 12 different Rangers have experienced multi-RBI games with Dundee leading the team by achieving the feat four times while Raegan Fingerman has a trio of multi-RBI games on her 2016 resume.
 
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.