Rolla, Mo. – The Missouri S&T softball squad heads up to the Chicagoland area this weekend to take part in the second annual Lewis Flyer Dome Invitational at the Dome at the Ballpark in Rosemont, Ill., this weekend. S&T will take on Grand Valley State at 3:30 p.m. on Friday and Wayne State (Mich.) later that night at 8 p.m.
On Saturday the Lady Miners will square off against Walsh (Ohio) at 3:30 p.m., Upper Iowa at 8 p.m. and then will conclude play on Sunday morning against Ashland at 11 a.m.
S&T looks to get its bats going this weekend after being held to an average of three runs a game in its first eight contests. As a team, it's hitting only .258 and has just four extra base hits to this point in the season.
Kyra Slemp (Roeland Park, Kan./Shawnee Mission East) leads the team with a .368 average while
Kelly Heckemeyer (St. Elizabeth, Mo./St. Elizabeth) is hitting .364 and
Cailey Baker (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield) is at .353. Heckemeyer and
Savannah Fedorchak (Oakville, Mo./Oakville) lead the club with four runs batted in each and
Lori Badalamenti (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland ) has driven in three.
In the circle, the Lady Miners have a team earned run average of 7.41 and have walked 39 hitters compared to 26 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .374 against them.
Kati Viets (Sweet Springs, Mo./Sweet Springs) has thrown two complete games this season and has struck out 14 hitters in 21 innings pitched.
Grand Valley returns 16 letterwinners and its entire starting lineup from last year heading into its season opener on Friday against S&T. The Lakers, predicted to finish fourth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, went 32-17 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight year last season.
Wayne State, the pre-season favorite to win the GLIAC, opens its season on Friday as well at 6 p.m. against Illinois Springfield before taking on the Lady Miners. The Warriors went 42-20-1 a year ago earning its fourth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament after winning its fourth consecutive GLIAC Tournament. Last season was the ninth time in the last 10 years that Wayne State has advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Walsh also begins its 2016 campaign this weekend taking on Lindenwood University at 11 a.m. on Friday and then will face Wisconsin-Parkside at 6 p.m. The Cavaliers are coming off an impressive 23-16 campaign a year ago, went 16-10 in the GLIAC and advanced to the GLIAC Tournament for a second straight year. Walsh was picked to finish sixth in the GLIAC this year.
Upper Iowa is 3-5 on the season after dropping four straight last weekend at the Winona State tournament in Rochester, Minn. The Peacocks lost to Pittsburg State 4-3, Washburn 6-4 and dropped a pair to Northwest Missouri 6-4 and 7-5.
Upper Iowa is hitting .298 as a team and is averaging nearly five runs per game. Sammy Garrett and Tara Walls pace the offense hitting .409 and .400 respectively. Jenny Budds has driven in a team-high seven runs. In the circle, the Peacocks have an ERA of 3.67 with three complete games. Brooke Redmond is 2-1 on the year with a 2.69 ERA and has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5-to-1.
Ashland will also open its season on Friday taking on GLVC members William Jewell at 9 a.m. and Lewis at 11 a.m. The Eagles, picked to finish third in the GLIAC, finished 2015 with a 39-10 mark, 21-5 in the GLIAC and advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional in Indianapolis last season. It was Ashland's 13
th Division II appearance, all since 1996.
