ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's softball team kicked off its eight-game homestand Wednesday by sweeping a doubleheader from Minnesota State Moorhead and will continue that run of home games with a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference twinbills this weekend at the S&T Softball Field.

The Miners, who improved to 12-10 on the season with the two wins on Wednesday, will host Southwest Baptist in a noon doubleheader, then takes on Rockhurst Sunday with a noon start for those games as well as S&T will look to improve on its 2-2 record in GLVC play. 

Missouri S&T split doubleheaders with Truman State and William Jewell earlier in the week to open its conference schedule, getting two wins in the circle from Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) as she has won her last four starts to bring a 7-3 record into play this week.  Wooldridge struck out seven on Wednesday in winning her fourth straight start and has a team-high 54 strikeouts on the season in 63 2/3 innings.

S&T's second starter, Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton), matched her season-best with eight strikeouts in Wednesday's nightcap and has fanned 50 in 58 innings this season; she has a 4-6 record and 4.10 ERA coming into Saturday's games.

The Miners are hitting just under .300 as a team but have five players batting .328 or higher in their lineup.  Madison Passolano (Mokena, Ill./Lockport Township) leads the Miners with a .421 batting average, while Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) is hitting .346 on the year with team highs in hits with 27 and stolen bases with five.

Hannah Antzoulatos (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy) is hitting .344 and tied a school record on Wednesday with two triples in the first game of the doubleheader with MSU Moorhead – becoming the first Miner since 2006 to record a pair of triples in the same game – and also hit the go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning of Monday's win at William Jewell that was the first by an S&T player in just over a year.

Shannon Flowers (Katy, Texas/Katy) is hitting .343 and leads the Miners with three home runs and 21 runs batted in, which ranks sixth in the GLVC, while Ashley Davis (Erie, Ill./Erie) is fifth in the conference with eight doubles as part of her .328 mark at the plate.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS:  Southwest Baptist is 5-12 on the season and 0-2 in the GLVC, with the two conference losses coming at the hands of Rockhurst on Sunday.  SBU swept a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday from Northwestern Oklahoma State by scores of 8-7 and 3-1.

Kaitlyn Bagby leads the Bearcats with a .333 average at the plate, while Abby Henson is also over the .300 mark at .308 on the year.  Margo Froussard has hit two of SBU's four home runs this season and has a team-high seven runs batted in.  Reilly Rupert has made five starts in the circle for the Bearcats and has a 2-4 mark with a 5.50 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings.

Rockhurst is 7-9 overall but 3-1 in the GLVC; the teams have played several common opponents this season as both teams were part of the Music City Invitational in late February and have also faced Washburn in non-conference play.  After sweeping SBU on Sunday, the Hawks split a GLVC doubleheader on Monday with Drury.

Calli Wibbenmeyer leads the Hawks with a .400 batting average and has three home runs and 12 runs batted in. She shares the home run lead with Maya Gallagher, who leads Rockhurst with 13 RBI and is hitting .313 on the year.  All four Rockhurst pitchers have seen action in at least six games, with Anna Newcomer throwing a team-high 38 1/3 innings and striking out 43.