Dates: April 9-10, 2016
Location: Evansville, Ind.
Stadium: James & Dorothy Cooper Stadium
Live Stats Game 1: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=130595
Live Stats Game 2: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=130596
Live Stats Game 3: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=130597
ESPN3 Link (Game 1): http://es.pn/1Vq8zBc
ESPN3 Link (Game 2): http://es.pn/1RICrEh
Series: Wichita State leads 35-23
 
Scouting Evansville:
The Purple Aces have started the season with a 14-18 overall record and are 2-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference with their two wins coming from Northern Iowa and Bradley.
 
Offensively, the team has been led by Michal Luckett who has played in all 32 games this season and is hitting .330 while hitting three home runs and driving in 13 runs. Chandra Parr follows closely behind with an average of .327 with nine doubles, three home runs and 19 RBI.
 
In the circle, the Purple Aces have two pitchers with at least 25 innings pitched. Morgan Florey leads the team with 26 appearances and has a record of 8-5 with an ERA of 1.85 in 105.2 innings pitched. Amanda Blankenship has 25 appearances with a record of 3-9 and an ERA of 4.16.
 
Series: Wichita State currently holds an overall record of 35-23 against the Purple Aces and is 10-2 during the Bredbenner Era. The last time these two teams faced off was last season when the Shockers swept the Purple Aces by scores of, 6-2, 8-0 and 5-2.
 
Shockers News and Notes:
2016: The Shockers are heading into Evansville winning seven of their last nine games, knocking off both Kansas and Tulsa last week and winning two of three against Illinois State on the weekend.
 
So far this season, the Shockers have been led by Macklin Hitz who is hitting .368 with three doubles, six home runs and 28 RBI. Hitz also has 15 walks on the season. Brittany Fortner has also contributed to the Shockers success, hitting .363 with 11 doubles, three home runs and 28 RBI.
 
Wichita State has two pitchers with over 70 innings pitched with Jenni Brooks with 74.1 and Katie Malone with 95.1. Brooks has an ERA of 2.83 and an overall record of 10-4. Brooks also holds an opponent batting average of .247. Malone has a record of 8-5 and an ERA of 4.48 and leads the pitching staff with 52 strikeouts.
 
But does she get on base?
Paige Luellen had reached base in the first 28 games for the Shockers this season, but ended her 33 game on-base streak at Kansas on March 29.
 
2015 In Review: Wichita State finished the 2015 season with an overall record of 34-23 and a 16-11 record in the Missouri Valley Conference giving the Shockers a fourth place finish.
 
Eight of Nine Starters Returning: Wichita State is returning every starter from the 2015 team except catcher Melanie Jaegers, who was a big contributor for the Shockers, hitting .282 and starting all 57 games. Among the position starters returning for Wichita State is Cacy Williams (first base/right field), Liz Broyles (second base), Kelli Spring (shortstop), Mackenzie Wright (third base), Brittany Fortner (left field), Ashley Johnson (center field) and Macklin Hitz (first base). Overall, these returners combined for a batting average of .328 while collecting 202 of the team's 272 RBIs and also hitting 35 of the team's 44 homeruns.
 
2015 All-MVC: The trio of returners, Fortner, Wright and Williams, along with Jaegers who graduated were all named 2015 First Team All-MVC, while Malone, Broyles and Spring were named Second Team All-MVC.
 
Fortner's Historic Season: Fortner finished her junior season with a .416 batting average (second in team history for a single season, tied for the Valley lead), 74 hits (tied the all-time hits record in a season in team history, led the Valley), 47 runs scored (led the Valley, third in team history for a single season), 45 RBIs (third in the Valley, third all-time in a single season in team history), 18 doubles (tied for second in the Valley, set the all-time team mark for doubles in a single season this season), 121 total bases (second in the Valley, second all-time in a single season in WSU SB history), a .502 OB% (second in the Valley) and 0.82 runs scored per game (led the Valley)
 
Climbing the ranks: After collecting two doubles this last weekend against Illinois State, Brittany Fortner is currently second all-time in the Shocker record book with 52 doubles, needing just one more to be tied for first place.
 
Williams is also tied for seventh in doubles (34).
 
Williams is in fourth place with 118 runs scored needing just seven more to jump into the top three.
 
Fortner is also seventh in hits (201), eighth in homeruns (20), tied for sixth in RBI (107), fourth in total bases (317) and eighth in walks (75).
 
Williams is also second in homeruns (32) and tied for third in RBI (117).
 
Missouri Valley favorites: Wichita State was picked as the 2016 MVC preseason favorite, as voted on by the Valley coaches. The Shockers collected 84 points and three first-place votes to make this the second year in a row that the Shockers have been the Missouri Valley favorites.
 
2016 Preseason All-MVC: After being named to the All-MVC First Team a season ago, Fortner, Wright and Williams have all been selected for the preseason All-MVC First Team.