BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Softball looks to continue their nine-game win streak with five games from February 28-March 2 at home in the Hilltopper Spring Fling.
WKU enters the weekend at 10-4 and comes off a tournament sweep with Rylan Smith having a career performance against Bradley with 11 strikeouts allowing only one run in a complete seven innings.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Friday, Feb. 28 (Food Truck Friday)
- vs. Kentucky (3 p.m. CT) Live Stats | Call 1-800-5-BIG RED for tickets
- Anniston Bray Trading Card Giveaway
- vs. Tennessee Tech ( 5:30 p.m. CT) Live Stats | Tickets
Saturday, Mar. 1 (Kid's Day)
- vs. Evansville (12:30 p.m. CT) Live Stats | Tickets
- vs. Kentucky (3 p.m. CT) Live Stats | SOLD OUT
- Erica Houge Trading Card Giveaway
Sunday, Mar. 2 (Softball Bingo Sunday)
-vs. Tennessee Tech (12:30 p.m. CT) Live Stats | Tickets
- Women's Celebration Game
- Kennedy Stinson Trading Card Giveaway
SERIES INFO
- Kentucky
- The Tops are 9-17 all-time against the Wildcats with the last win coming in 2021, 2-1, in a nine-inning battle. This is the second consecutive season that Kentucky travels to Bowling Green to face off against the Tops.
- Tennessee Tech
- WKU is 12-7 all-time against the Golden Eagles with the last win coming in 2021 in a six-inning effort with the Tops walking out victorious, 11-3. This will be the first meeting since 2021.
- Evansville
- The Hilltoppers are 13-9-1 all-time against the Purple Aces winning the last seven matchups. The two squads last played in 2023 in Bowling Green, Ky. with WKU winning in a 9-0 shutout victory.
ABOUT THE TOPS
- The Hilltoppers are currently on a nine-game win streak, coming off two clean sweeps in their previous tournaments.
- WKU's Katie Murphy and Annie White both hit timely home runs over the weekend. Both home runs came while the Tops were trailing in battles to Gardner-Webb and Bradley, cementing WKU's perfect 4-0 weekend.
- Jenna Blanton leads the offensive onslaught with a .545 batting average with nine RBIs, 24 hits, and 11 runs.
- Rylan Smith led the Tops' pitching staff once again with a career-high 11 strikeout performance against Bradley on Sunday.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Kentucky is 10-5 and is on a four-game win streak of their own. Some Wildcat victories include Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, and Clemson.
- UK shares an opponent with WKU with the 'Cats playing Georgia Tech this past weekend. They went 2-0 and outscored the Yellow Jackets by 10 runs each game.
- True freshman Allie Blum leads this squad at the plate with a .400 batting average and 18 hits. Blum also has two home runs on the season.
- The Wildcats are led in the circle by senior pitcher, Alexia Lacatena, who has 16 strikeouts so far. Lacatena pitched a shutout in a complete game in her first win of the season against Pittsburgh.
- Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles
- The Golden Eagles are 6-6 with wins over South Carolina State, Evansville, and Army.
- Lainey Fitzgerald is the reigning OVC Pitcher of the Week throwing 20 strikeouts with a 1.50 ERA last week. Fitzgerald struck out 14 batters in the 4-1 win over George Washington.
- Junior Addison Abell has also earned the conference pitcher of the week honor this season.
- Abby Shoulders leads Tennessee Tech at the plate with 13 hits and a .371 batting average. Shoulders has a hit in all but one of the games she has participated in this season.
- Evansville Purple Aces
- The Purple Aces are a game above .500 with a 7-6 record on the year. Evansville has victories over Saint Louis, Furman, and UT Martin.
- Taylor Howe is the current MVC Player of the Week. Howe is coming off of a week of hitting four home runs in four games.
- Offensively, Evansville is led by sophomore Niki Bode. Bode is .500 at the plate this year. She went 3-3 with a home run against UT Martin in a 14-2 victory.
