ROLLA, Mo. – After returning to the .500 mark for the season after recording a doubleheader sweep on Wednesday, Missouri S&T's softball team will open up its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule this weekend as it plays Truman State and William Jewell to kick off the 28-game league slate.

The Miners will host Truman State in a doubleheader at noon at the S&T Softball Field, then head to Kansas City for a Monday twinbill against William Jewell that will begin at 1 p.m. at the Urban Youth Academy.  Monday's doubleheader was originally scheduled for Friday, but was moved due to the winter weather coming into the region late this week.

S&T will also have a home non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday when it hosts Minnesota State Moorhead at 1 p.m. at the S&T Softball Field.

The Miners snapped a six-game losing streak Wednesday with their two wins at Lincoln, using three-run outbursts early in both games to take the lead for good.  S&T scored three runs in the second inning of its 6-3 win in game one, two of them coming home on a two-out single by Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville), then got run-scoring doubles from Viox, Hannah Antzoulatos (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy) and Ashley Davis (Erie, Ill./Erie) in the third inning of game two that it would win by a 4-2 count.

Madison Passolano (Mokena, Ill./Lockport Township) leads the Miners with a .481 batting average and is tied for the team lead in stolen bases with Ciarrah Bell (Marceline, Mo./Marceline) with four, while Viox is hitting .345 on the year with a team-high 20 hits.  Shannon Flowers (Katy, Texas/Katy), who belted her third home run of the season in game two, is batting .340 and leads S&T with 16 runs batted and Antzoulatos is hitting .327 and shares the team lead in doubles with Davis with six apiece; Davis had two doubles among her three hits in Wednesday's nightcap.

Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) – who is also hitting .325 – picked up her fourth win in the circle Wednesday and lowered her earned run average to 3.85 in the process.  She struck out seven and allowed just four hits in her outing, while Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton) also had seven strikeouts in the nightcap as she got her third win of the year.  Wooldridge has fanned 40 hitters in 43 2/3 innings, while Rowland has recorded 37 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS:  Truman State will open its conference slate Sunday as well and is currently 5-10 on the year.  The Bulldogs have been outscored 101-61 thus far on the season and opposing hitters have reached base over 43 percent of the time.

Lauren Stade leads Truman with a .360 batting average and has one of the team's three home runs, while Emma Walbert is batting .341 with a team-leading five stolen bases and Maria McGonegle has driven in a team-high 11 runs.  Truman has used four pitchers extensively this season, with Breianna Klein holding a 2-2 record and 4.89 earned run average in 24 1/3 innings of work.

William Jewell, who will also open its conference schedule against S&T when the teams meet on Monday, is 2-10 on the season and dropped its last three games over the past weekend.  The Cardinals have hit just .197 as a team over their first 12 contests, with Abby Vandiver leading the way with a .353 mark and Allison Rawls batting .333; no other Jewell player currently has an average above .231.

Kenzie Jones has gone 2-2 in the circle with a 3.30 earned run average in 40 1/3 innings, while Aliyah Santiago and Sammie Welt have made three starts apiece for the Cardinals.

MSU Moorhead is 2-6 but has not played since losing to Lewis on Feb. 26; the Dragons will take on McKendree on Tuesday before facing the Miners a day later.  Jordey Smith has hit .417 over the first eight games of the season, while Anna Lang has made four starts and has a 2-2 record with a 4.47 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings.