SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – After concluding their regular season with a 36-10 record, sweeping the Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagles last Friday, Valor Softball opens KCAC Conference Tournament play on Tuesday (Apr. 29) morning.
Evangel will take on the seventh seeded Tabor College Bluejays at 11:00 a.m. on Tanger Field at the Branson RecPlex, looking to make a run and potentially earn the second automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship Opening Rounds. All games will be live streamed through the KCAC Network. For tickets, click the link provided here.
SERIES HISTORY
The Valor can play seven different teams in the conference tournament. All-time records against each team are listed below.
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#1 Friends - 8-2 (2-0 this season)
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#3 Avila - 42-22 (2-0 this season)
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#4 Ottawa - 9-8-1 (0-2 this season)
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#5 OKWU - 18-6 (2-0 this season)
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#6 Sterling - 4-1 (1-1 this season)
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#7 Tabor - 6-1 (2-0 this season)
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#8 Kansas Wesleyan - 6-5 (1-1 this season)
OPENING STORYLINES
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Evangel swept Oklahoma Wesleyan on Friday, 8-0 and 3-0, wrapping up their regular season on a two game winning streak.
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Ellie Facklam currently leads the Valor at the plate, batting .466 on the season.
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Karlie Romines leads EU with 11 home runs this season, tied for 9th all-time in a single season in school history. Romines is currently tied for sixth in school history for home runs in a career, currently with 19.
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Romines leads Evangel with 51 RBIs so far this season, tied for 6th all-time in EU history. Karlie also has 96 RBIs in her career, which is 13th all-time.
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Kenna Mayfield moved her stolen base total to 57 so far this season, which ranks second in the KCAC and fourth in the nation. Mayfield is also second in runs scored in a single season, currently with 60 scored this year, just four behind Kendra Corbin (2009), the current EU record holder.
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Maddy Meierer leads Evangel in the circle, currently with 20 wins and a 0.80 ERA. Meierer is currently 2nd for wins in a single season (20), 9th for wins in a career (36), 9th in strikeouts for a career (268), and 8th in strikeouts for a single season (149).
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Evangel finished their regular season with a 97.5 percent fielding percentage, the highest mark in the conference and the fifth highest in the nation.
LOOKING AHEAD
Evangel Softball will compete and see whether or not they can earn an automatic bid to the national tournament. In order to earn an automatic, Evangel needs to either claim the tournament championship or finish runner up to Friends in the championship. Should Evangel not do either, the fate of their season rests in the hands of the selection committee. The NAIA Softball selection show is scheduled for May 7th at 5:00 p.m.
For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, visit Facebook at Facebook.com/EvangelValor, Twitter (@EvangelValor), or EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on their favorite EU teams by downloading the Evangel Athletics Gameday App through the App Store or Google Play.
