THIS WEEK:
at Bellarmine Knights
Saturday (March 10) -- Knights Field - Louisville, Ky. @ 11 a.m. & 1 p.m. (CST)

On Deck: The 2018 Missouri S&T softball team begins Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) action this Saturday (March 10) on the road as the Lady Miners take on the Bellarmine Knights in a doubleheader at BU's Knights Field in Louisville, Ky. 

2018 Record: Missouri S&T is currently 8-10 overall and 0-0 in the GLVC this season.  The Lady Miners went 1-3 on a four-game non-conference home stand this past weekend (March 3-4), dropping a pair of contests to Southwest Baptist (L 1-0 and L 3-1) before splitting a twin bill with Central Missouri (W 4-1 and L 5-4) at the S&T Field in Rolla, Mo.  S&T is presently 1-1 on the road, 6-3 at home, and 1-6 at neutral sites this season.   
 
Missouri S&T Head Coach - Cathy Monroe (Truman State, 2002), Third season, 46-76. 2-2 vs. Bellarmine.
Monroe guided the 2016 Lady Miners to a five-win improvement in her first season with the squad as S&T made another six-game jump in the win column in 2017 going 22-31 overall and 14-16 in the GLVC.  The Lady Miners were in contention for a spot in the GLVC Tournament all the way to the final day of the season with a team that had two all-conference performers.Monroe led S&T to a 16-35 mark in her first year after spending the previous 11 seasons as an assistant coach at Truman State University, the last two as the program's associate head coach.  While at Truman, Monroe served as the acting head coach for the Bulldogs for an eight-game stretch during the early stages of the 2015 season and compiled a 7-1 record.  Truman State concluded the 2015 campaign with a 33-16 overall record, which included a 21-7 GLVC mark and a second straight NCAA Division II Midwest Regional appearance.

The Opposition: Bellarmine is 7-7 overall and 0-0 in the GLVC to date this season.  The Knights, under head coach Renee Hicks, have currently won three of their last five outings which includes a non-league road doubleheader sweep of Kentucky State (W 6-1 and W 17-2 in five innings) this last Saturday (March 3) in Frankfort, Ky.  BU, which hosts Davenport (Mich.) this Friday (March 9) in a non-conference doubleheader, is 0-4 at home, 2-0 in the road, and 5-3 at neutral sites this spring.  Sophomore catcher-utility Rachel Ayer (.471, 1 HR, 12 RBIs) along with senior infielder Lillie Nitzken (.413, 1 HR, 14 RBIs) and senior pitcher-infielder Marlee Tevis (.366, 1 HR, 11 RBIs) lead Bellarmine in batting this season.  In the pitching circle, junior Madeline Kurtz (2-3, 4.05 ERA, 27.2 IP) and sophomore Sabrina Fussenegger (2-3, 5.54 ERA, 30.1 IP) pave the way.

All-Time Series: Missouri S&T holds a 14-11 advantage over Bellarmine in the all-time series which originated in 1995.  The Lady Miners are 4-8 on the road, 8-0 at home, and 2-3 in neutral site encounters versus the Knights. 

Conference Openers: Missouri S&T is 7-5 in conference-opening contests since 2006 and has won four of its last seven league openers to date.  The Lady Miners suffered a 4-2 setback to nationally-ranked Indianapolis in their GLVC opener last season (March 19) in Indianapolis, Ind.  S&T has amassed a 13-13 record in league-opening doubleheaders dating back to 2006, which included a pair of road setbacks (4-2 and 10-0 in five innings) to Indianapolis a season ago (March 19). 

A Season Ago: The 2017 Lady Miners registered a 22-31 overall record, which included a 10th-place tying 14-16 GLVC mark.  

S&T Diamond Notes: The Lady Miners' top RBI leaders, sophomore first baseman-outfielder Olivia Young (Milstadt, Ill./Belleville Township) and junior first baseman-outfielder Gretchen Egly (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield Central) have currently combined to generate 48.5 percent (33-68) of the squad's output.  Young has accumulated a team-high six multiple RBI game performances while Ely has totaled five this season … S&T is 6-0 this spring when leading after four innings and 6-1 when holding the advantage thru six frames … Sophomore first baseman-outfielder Olivia Young (Milstadt, Ill./Belleville Township) totaled five RBI's in last Sunday's (3/4) twinbill against Central Missouri, which featured a personal season-best three RBI's in the opener.  She has posted a squad-best six multi RBI single-game efforts this campaign … Gretchen Egly (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield Central) has hit safely in 13 of 18 games played in this campaign, which includes a current three-game hitting streak (3/3-4) … Junior utility Hannah Franceschini (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central), who has currently compiled a team seventh-most 13 base hits this season, is eight shy of reaching the 100 career hits mark … Senior pitcher Kati Viets (Sweet Springs, Mo./Sweet Springs) tallied her 200th career strikeout in the Lady Miners' 5-4 second-game setback to Central Missouri last Sunday (3/4).    
 
Up Next: Missouri S&T visits the Lincoln (Mo.) Blue Tigers Wednesday, March 14 in a non-conference doubleheader at Jefferson City, Mo.  The first game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. (CDT) start with the nightcap set for 4 p.m. (CDT) at the LU Softball Field.  

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