ROLLA, Mo. – After spending a majority of the first month and a half of the season playing away from home, Missouri S&T's softball team begins a home-heavy schedule for April with a pair of doubleheaders at the S&T Softball Field to begin the new month this weekend.

The Miners, who have played only three of their 28 games on their home field, are slated to play 14 of their 20 April contests in Rolla.  The first four of them take place this weekend, beginning with a Saturday doubleheader against Drury at noon, followed by a noon twinbill on Sunday against Southwest Baptist in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

S&T comes into the weekend at 12-16 overall and 4-4 in the GLVC after dropping four of six games in a stretch of four days last week.  The Miners lost both ends of a doubleheader at Rockhurst, then swept a pair from William Jewell on Sunday before losing twice in a non-league twinbill Tuesday at Central Missouri.

The Miners enter the weekend being led at the plate by Emma Vaughn (Pevely, Mo./Herculaneum) with a .368 batting average, while Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) is hitting .362 on the year.  S&T also has two other regulars over the .300 mark in Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville) with a .323 average and Baylee Jobson (Marceline, Mo./Marceline RV), who comes into Saturday's game batting .317 on the year.

Hannah Antzoulatos (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy), who is just shy of the .300 mark at .299, leads the Miners with 16 runs batted in while Shannon Flowers (Katy, Texas/Katy) has hit three of the team's five home runs this season.

Wooldridge leads the pitching staff with five wins and has a 3.98 earned run average, while Julia Kanoy (Hamilton, Mo./Penney) has a 3.99 ERA and has struck out 75 hitters in 61 1/3 innings; the strikeout total ranks fifth in the GLVC.  The team leader in the ERA department is Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton), who has a 2.85 earned run mark in 34 1/3 innings.

ABOUT DRURY: The Panthers bring a 17-17 overall record and 5-3 mark in the GLVC into Saturday's contests after losing both ends of a doubleheader Wednesday at Rockhurst.  Drury was held to one run in the two games at Rockhurst and has been shut out five times this season.

Kristina Bettis leads the GLVC with 127 strikeouts on the season and has 10 of the team's 17 wins in the circle as she owns a 3.35 earned run average.  Lindsay Henson, who has made eight starts, has a 1.54 ERA despite holding a 3-5 record on the year.  At the plate, Sophia Luetticke leads Drury with a .390 batting average and Kailyne Luna is hitting .328 for a squad hitting .267 as a team.  Gracie Thomas leads the Panthers with 13 runs batted in.

ABOUT SOUTHWEST BAPTIST: The Bearcats enter the weekend – which will have them play two at Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday prior to Sunday's games in Rolla – with records of 8-22 and 2-4 in the GLVC.  SBU swept a doubleheader from William Jewell, but lost twice to Rockhurst and Drury in conference play and scored a total of six runs in those four setbacks.

Margo Frossard leads the Bearcats with a .319 average, while Chloee Sams leads SBU in in the production categories with three home runs and 11 runs batted in; the latter mark is tied for the top spot along with Katlynn McConville.  In the circle, Jenna Daggett has five of the team's eight wins and owns an ERA of 5.17.