Southern Mississippi Golden Eagle Invitational
Fri., Feb. 17-Sun., Feb. 19
Hattiesburg, Miss.

FOLLOW COUGARS
Live Stats/Full Schedule
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram

OPENING WEEKEND: Weather played a factor in SIUE's opening weekend at the Trojan Classic in Troy, Alabama. The second day of competition did not happen due to rain. SIUE dropped two games at Troy and one to Belmont.
LEADING HITTER: Piper Montgomery collected four hits in the opening weekend to lead all Cougars. She started all three games behind the plate for SIUE.
COUGAR DEBUT: Rylie Pindel holds a zero earned run average to lead the SIUE pitching staff. She allowed an unearned run in her debut against Belmont, throwing four innings and yielding just three hits.
START OF AN ERA: After spending nearly the last decade as an assistant coach in the Big Ten Conference, Ben Sorden was tapped as the new leader of the SIUE softball program. Sorden comes to SIUE after holding positions at Michigan State and Indiana, helping the pitching staffs to national honors and top-notch results. The Lone Tree, Iowa, native most recently spent five seasons at Michigan State, where the Spartans sported a 2.38 earned run average and a 1.11 WHIP over 350 innings of play.
WE'RE BACK: SIUE's 2023 roster includes the top three hitters from last season. Lexi King, who plays outfield and also pitches, led the Cougars last season with a .380 batting average. Lauryn Yslava made 49 starts her freshman season and batted .317. Grace Lueke battled injuries during the season and batted a strong .305.
OVC PLAYER TO WATCH: Yslava was named the OVC Player to Watch for the Cougars. She hit nine home runs in her first season, which is the most in season by an SIUE freshman.
THAT'S A HIT: King collected 68 hits last season, the second most by a Cougar player in the Division I era. Haley Chambers-Book had 69 during the 2015 season. King was named first team All-OVC as a utility player.
THAT'S OUT OF HERE: Lueke planted 12 softballs over the fence last season. That is the most by a Cougar player in the Division I era and tied for second all-time. The previous top home run hitter in the Division I era was Alex McDavid with 10 in 2013.
THE NEWCOMERS: The Cougars welcome six new players for the 2023 roster. They include freshman infielder Macy Mikulich (Lewiston, Illinois), sophomore transfer infielder Paige Rocha (Platte City, Missouri), freshman pitcher Rylie Pindel (Las Vegas, Nevada), junior transfer infielder Kate Crombar (Carbondale, Illinois), senior transfer outfielder Madisyn Webster (Pontiac, Illinois), and junior transfer outfielder Hayley Palm (Aviston, Illinois).
MORE COACHING STAFF: Coach Sorden retained Giorgiana Zeremenko from last season's coaching staff. He also added Courtney Gentile as an assistant coach. She previously was a pitching and assistant hitting coach at Eastern Michigan from 2013 to 2017.
NEW LOOK OVC: SIUE welcomes two new members to the OVC for the 2023 season. Lindenwood and Southern Indiana are competing at the Division I level for the first time this season.