ROLLA, Mo. – After completing its first weekend at home with a split of its four games, Missouri S&T's softball team heads to the Kansas City area for a pair of weekend doubleheaders in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

The Miners will open action on Thursday when they take on William Jewell in a 2 p.m. doubleheader in Liberty, Mo., then heads to the south end of Kansas City on Friday to face Rockhurst in a twinbill that will begin at noon.

S&T swept a pair of contests from Southwest Baptist last Friday, but ended up on the short end of the score in both games on Sunday against Drury, including a 2-1 loss in eight innings in the nightcap after Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton) had shut the Panthers out over the first seven innings.  The Miners come into Thursday's twinbill at Jewell at 12-20 overall and 3-5 in conference play.

The Miners enter the week with two of the top hitters in the GLVC in Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury) and Sydney Anderson (Elkhart, IA/North Polk).  Wooldridge leads S&T with a .392 batting average and has driven in 20 runs, while Anderson – who had 10 hits over the course of the past weekend – has improved her average to .381 on the season and leads the Miners with 23 runs batted in.

Wooldridge also leads S&T with six wins and 86 strikeouts in the circle, while Rowland has five wins and a 3.31 earned run average to go along with 74 strikeouts.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: William Jewell will bring an 18-16 overall record – but 1-7 mark in the GLVC – into Thursday's doubleheader. The Cardinals have dropped eight of their last 10 outings and were shut out in three of their four weekend contests against Indianapolis and Lewis.

Sabrina Olmo leads Jewell with a .340 batting average and has stolen 12 bases, while Tori Woodard and Sophia Lopez have 14 runs batted in apiece.  In the circle, Avery Reynolds is 9-8 with a 2.60 earned run average, while Olivia Wood has a staff-leading 41 strikeouts.

Rockhurst is 6-16 overall and also 1-7 in GLVC play, as it has dropped nine of its last 10 games.  The Hawks have hit just .190 as a team and have been led at the plate by Maya Gallagher with a .273 average.  Jayla Pierce and Kerstyn Finch have hit two home runs apiece for Rockhurst.

Anna Stephen leads the pitching staff with a 4.08 earned run average, while Avery Huffman has recorded four of the Hawks' six wins this year and has fanned 37 hitters.