ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T will return to Great Lakes Valley Conference play on its home turf this weekend, as the Miners will play a pair of doubleheaders at the S&T Softball Field seeking to solidify its place among the top eight teams in the GLVC.

The Miners have played their last six conference games on the road, but will be back at home to take on McKendree in a noon doubleheader on Saturday before facing off with Missouri-St. Louis the following day at noon.

Missouri S&T comes into the weekend at 19-17 overall and 7-7 in the GLVC, which has it in seventh place in the league standings as the second half of the conference schedule gets underway this weekend.  The Miners had lost five straight GLVC games before taking the second game of their doubleheader on Sunday at Maryville to get back to the .500 mark in league play.

Hannah Antzoulatos (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy) comes into the week leading the Miners in hitting with a .342 mark and has a team-high 19 extra base hits, including four triples that is tied for the most in the GLVC.  Ashley Davis (Erie, Ill./Erie) has a .324 mark at the plate and is tied for fourth in the conference in doubles with 12, while Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) is batting .315 and leads the Miners with six stolen bases.

Shannon Flowers (Katy, Texas/Katy) is the Miners' fourth regular that is over the .300 mark at the plate with her .309 average and she also leads the team with six home runs and 31 runs batted in.

In the circle, Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) comes into the week with a 10-6 record and 3.36 earned run average, while striking out a team-high 90 batters in 106 1/3 innings.  Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton) is 8-8 with a  3.95 ERA and 77 strikeouts, while Julia Kanoy (Hamilton, Mo./Penney) has fanned 31 in 21 1/3 innings and has held opposing hitters to a .193 average at the plate.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS:  McKendree enters Saturday's doubleheader at 15-17 on the year and 7-9 in the GLVC; it had a four-game winning streak snapped in the second game of its twinbill Sunday against Rockhurst.  The Bearcats have arguably the top offensive performer in the GLVC in Olivia Stansbury, who leads the conference with a .485 average and 15 home runs – five more than any other player in the league – and is tied for second with 37 runs batted in.

The Bearcats have three additional regulars over the .300 mark, paced by Heaven Lawrence's .352 average, 25 runs batted in and 12 stolen bases and Sydney Bires' average of .347 on the season.  McKendree is hitting .297 as a team, but its pitching staff has a 5.79 earned run average.  Ellie Quaethem has a 2.77 ERA to go along with her 102 strikeouts and 10-6 record, but the other three who have pitched for McKendree this season have ERAs above six.

Missouri-St. Louis won three straight games to close last weekend to improve to 22-13 overall and 11-5 in the GLVC, with the final victory being highlighted by Annie Scaramucci's no-hitter against Southwest Baptist.  Scaramuzzi has the top ERA on the Triton staff at 1.53 – fifth-best in the GLVC – and has struck out better than a hitter per inning with 87 in 77 2/3 inning of work.

Maddie Snemis leads UMSL with a .367 average on the season, while McKenzie Lamos has a .352 mark and has belted nine home runs.  Riley Schultz is hitting .321 on the year and Megan Brown has a .315 average while leading the Tritons with 28 runs batted in to go along with her six homers.