THIS WEEK:
2018 GLVC Softball Championship Tournament
vs. Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars
Thursday (May 3) – EastSide Centre Field Two – East Peoria, Ill. @ 10 a.m. (CT)
  
East Peoria, Ill. - The Missouri S&T softball team will be making its sixth Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Softball Championship Tournament appearance this weekend (May 3-5) as the Lady Miners are competing in the league's postseason tourney for the first time since 2010.  S&T, which is the tournament's eighth seed, will go up against nationally-ranked top seed Illinois Springfield this Thursday (May 3) in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament.  Opening pitch between the two teams is slated for 10 a.m. (CT) at the EastSide Centre's Field Two.  The winner will advance to play the winner of the Truman State-Missouri-St. Louis contest at 4 p.m. (CT) this Thursday.     
 
2018 Record: Missouri S&T is presently 25-25 overall and finished the regular season at 14-14 in the GLVC.  This past weekend (April 28-29), S&T went 2-2 as the Lady Miners split a pair of GLVC road doubleheaders.  S&T lost an 11-1 five-inning game one decision to Indianapolis last Saturday (April 28) before tallying a 7-2 victory over the Greyhounds in game two at Indianapolis, Ind.  The Lady Miners gained a 5-2 win against Wisconsin-Parkside last Sunday (April 29) in the series' opener at Somers, Wis., but then suffered a 4-1 defeat to the Rangers in the nightcap.  The Lady Miners are 1-6 at neutral sites, 11-10 at home, and 13-9 in away outings this campaign.       
 
Missouri S&T Head Coach - Cathy Monroe (Truman State, 2002), Third Season, 63-91. 
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.

 2018 GLVC Tournament Field: The eight-team 2018 GLVC Championship Tournament field is comprised of nationally-ranked and top-seed Illinois Springfield (UIS), second-seed McKendree, third-seed Indianapolis, fourth-seed Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), fifth-seed Truman State, sixth-seed Southern Indiana, and seventh-seed William Jewell along with eighth-seed Missouri S&T.  Per day tickets for the 2018 GLVC Tournament are $10 for adults, $5 students, $5 youth (kindergarten-12th grade) and kids age five or under will be admitted free.  An all-tournament pass is available for $25.  Tickets can be purchased by cash, check or credit card.
  
The Opposition: Illinois Springfield – The nationally 17th-ranked Prairie Stars are 35-14 overall to date this season and finished first in the GLVC with a 22-6 record.  UIS, under fourth-year head coach Shannon Guthrie, has won eight of its last 11 encounters with the most recent being a league regular-season finale home doubleheader sweep (3-2 in 10 innings and 8-2) of Rockhurst this past weekend (April 29) at the Land of Lincoln Sports Complex in Springfield, Ill.  UIS top hitters this season are sophomore designated player-outfielder Lakyn Wagoner (.377, 7 HR, 27 RBIs, 61 hits), sophomore shortstop Erin Stroup (.376, 1 HR, 31 RBIs, 53 hits), senior pitcher-outfielder Ali Haesele (.369, 2 HR, 29 RBIs, 62 hits), and freshman third baseman Calla Wickenhauser (.350, 8 HR, 34 RBIs, 49 hits).  Haesele (21-7, two saves, 2.16 ERA, 171.2 IP) and junior Jaycee Craver (10-4, six saves, 3.10 ERA, 106.0 IP) have been the Prairie Stars' primary pitchers this spring.  UIS is 11-6 at neutral sites, 15-3 at home, and 9-5 on the road this 2018 campaign.    
               
All-Time Series vs. Illinois Springfield: Missouri S&T has posted an 8-16 record against Illinois Springfield in a series which began in 2009.  The Lady Miners are both 4-8 at home and on the road versus the Prairie Stars.  Earlier this season (March 17), S&T split a home league doubleheader with UIS as the Lady Miners won 8-1 in the opener before dropping a 9-2 game-two decision in Rolla, Mo.  S&T is 2-8 in its last 10 matchups versus the Prairie Stars.    
 
Monroe vs. The Opposition– 1-5 vs. Illinois Springfield, 1-5 vs. Missouri-St. Louis, 1-5 vs. Indianapolis, 2-4 vs. Southern Indiana, 1-5 vs. McKendree, 3-5 vs. Truman State, 1-5 vs. William Jewell
 
All-Time Series– Missouri S&T is 8-16 vs. Illinois Springfield, 24-62 vs. Missouri-St. Louis, 6-16 vs. Indianapolis, 13-16 vs. Southern Indiana, 9-11 vs. McKendree, 19-36 vs. Truman State, 7-21 vs. William Jewell
  
S&T in The GLVC Tourney: S&T has compiled a 5-10 record (.333) in the GLVC Tournament since joining the conference in 2006.  The Lady Miners are 2-2 vs. Indianapolis, 2-0 vs. Southern Indiana, and 0-1 vs. Missouri-St. Louis.       
   
S&T Diamond Notes: Sophomore designated player-outfielder Olivia Young (Milstadt, Ill./Belleville Township)'s 13 home runs this season is one shy of tying the school single-season record of 14 set by Kelsey Musselman in the 2008 campaign.  Young, who has a team-high 53 RBIs this spring, is three shy of equaling Holly Weinberg's program-record 56 RBIs set in 2006 … S&T is 15-7 in games this season when scoring first and 10-18 when the opposition tallies the initial run … Sophomore shortstop Abby Klein (Kansas City, MO/Staley) batted for a team-best .417 average (20-48) in 16 April outings … The Lady Miners are 19-0 this spring when leading after four innings and 20-2 when holding the advantage through five frames … Olivia Young (Milstadt, Ill./Belleville Township) and junior first baseman Gretchen Egly (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield Central) lead S&T with 15 multiple-hit game efforts apiece and are among six individuals to compiled double-digit multi-hit game efforts this campaign … Abby Klein (Kansas City, MO/Staley) is midst a current seven-game hitting streak (4/21-29) and is hitting .500 (11-12) to go with three multi-hit single-game performances.  Klein's current hitting string is one shy of matching her 2018 season-high eight-game streak (3/17-30) … Junior outfielder Carley Hamann (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way North)'s 38 base hits this season in 50 games is one shy of tying her career single-season high of 39 total set a season ago in 53 outings … The Lady Miners' top five hits leaders this spring – Olivia Young (Milstadt, Ill./Belleville Township) (52), Gretchen Egly (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield Central) (49), junior outfielder Courtney Jackson (Parkville, Mo./Park Hill South) (47), Abby Klein (Kansas City, MO/Staley) (43), and senior third baseman Monica Weiss (St. Louis, Mo./Marquette) (42) have combined for 62.8 percent (233-371) of the squad's hits production.                   
  
2018 GLVC Standings: The complete 2018 GLVC Standings can be found at this link - GLVC Standings.  Information for the conference overall and individual statistical leaders is available at GLVC Statistics.      
 
National Statistical Leaders: Both NCAA Division II team and individual national statistical leaders for the 2018 season is available by clicking on this link.  S&T's rankings, both team and individual, can be accessed via this link. 
 
2018 GLVC Preseason Poll: Missouri S&T was picked to finish 12th in the 2018 GLVC Preseason Softball Coaches Poll as the Lady Miners received 51 points.  Southern Indiana was tabbed as preseason favorite with 193 points followed by Missouri-St. Louis (182 pts.) and Truman State (166 pts.). S&T finished six points behind 11th-place Maryville (57 pts.) and 10 points in front of 13th-place Quincy (41 pts.).  A season ago, the Lady Miners compiled a 22-31 overall record with a 14-16 conference mark.         
 
On Deck: The winner of the 2018 GLVC Softball Championship Tournament will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament.              
 
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