(Rolla, Mo.) – The Missouri S&T Softball team looks to build on its two-game winning streak when it hits the road for a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheaders this weekend in Illinois. The Lady Miners head to Lebanon, Ill., on Friday to take on McKendree beginning at 3:30 p.m. and will then head to Springfield for a match-up with Illinois Springfield on Saturday starting at 12 p.m.

S&T picked up a pair of non-conference victories on Wednesday with its doubleheader sweep of Northwest Missouri in Chillicothe, Mo. The Lady Miners got timely hitting, good pitching and solid defense to defeat the Bearcats.

Andi Davis (Blue Springs, Mo./Archbishop O'Hara ) continues to lead the team in hitting with her .322 batting average and has scored a team-high 17 runs while Shelby Michaelis (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) is just a shade under .300 at .299 with a pair of home runs and team best 14 runs batted in. The Lady Miners have a team batting average of .223 heading into this weekend.

Kyra Slemp (Roeland Park, Kan./Shawnee Mission East) carries a .234 batting average into play this weekend, but in her last 10 games has gone 8-for-30 (.267) with seven runs batted in, five runs scored, three doubles and two home runs. She has recorded hits in seven of those contests.

In the circle, S&T has an earned run average of 4.13, with Becca Strope (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) leading the way with a 2.73 ERA in 97.1 innings of work. She leads the pitching staff in wins, starts, complete games, shutouts and saves. Strope has struck out 44 batters and is holding opponents to a .258 batting average.

McKendree enters play this weekend with a record of 14-20 overall, 7-13 in the GLVC. It currently sits sixth in the East Division and is only a game behind Illinois Springfield for fifth and two games behind Saint Joseph's for fourth.

The Bearcats snapped a four-game losing streak on Wednesday when they won game two of their doubleheader against Lindenwood 7-4.

McKendree brings a .268 team batting average into Friday's games and have four players hitting above .300 led by Katie Nauman with .386 average. Jamie Doggendorf has hit a team-high four home runs while Lindsay Schmitz and Hanna Branch have hit three apiece.

In the circle, the Bearcats have a team ERA of 3.81 and are led in wins by Kelsie Stoszkus and Susan Goetze with four each.

S&T concludes its trip to the "Land of Lincoln" on Saturday when it takes on Illinois Springfield.

The Prairie Stars are 17-18, 8-12 in the GLVC and are in battle for a spot in the conference tournament. In their last 10 games they've gone 3-7 but won their last two. They'll take on Drury on Friday at 2 p.m. in a doubleheader.

UIS is hitting .282 entering play this weekend and is led by Samantha Riss with .344 average. Chelsea Minor is hitting .309 while Tess Lamb and Katelyn Weaver are batting .301 and .300 respectively. Riss leads the team in home runs (4) and runs batted in (21) as well.

In the circle, the Prairie Stars have a 3.55 ERA and are led by the duo of Alex Smith and Cheyanne Bowman. Smith is 11-9 on the season with a 3.16 ERA while Bowman is 6-5 with a 2.70 ERA. Smith has tossed 16 complete games, thrown a shutout and holding opponents to a .272 batting average. Bowman has tossed six complete games and is limiting the opposition to a .221 mark against her.