GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Golden Eagles will return to action with a pair of WHAC doubleheaders this weekend at Northwestern Ohio and Rochester. Friday's games will start at 3:30 in Lima, Ohio, and Saturday's games will start at 1:00 in Rochester. The Golden Eagles (9-9 overall, 4-2 WHAC) have only played six games since returning from their spring break trip on March 11, but will cram in 16 games in the next two weeks, including five home doubleheaders next week.

Opponent: Northwestern Ohio
Date: Friday, April 20 (DH)
Times: 3:30 p.m. & 5:30 p.m.
Location: Lima, Ohio. (Racer Softball Field)
Internet Coverage: Live Stats, Live Video

Opponent: Rochester
Date: Saturday, April 21 (DH)
Times: 1:00 p.m. & 3:00 p.m.
Location: Rochester, Mich. (Jaycee Field Scott Street Park)
Internet Coverage: TBD

SCOUTING THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS

Scouting Northwestern Ohio
• The Racers have a 19-7 overall, 5-3 WHAC record.
• UNOH is outscoring their opponents 167-76, and 125-37 in the first 4 innings.
• The pitching staff has the best numbers in the WHAC with an impressive 2.02. Aubrey Brunst leads the squad with a 1.84 ERA and a 10-5 record with three saves.
• The team's batting average of .344 is 2nd-best in the WHAC
• Kendall Benning has a batting average of .435 with a .652 slugging percentage.
• Kelly Merkle and Grace Jackson are both slugging .643. Merkle has 34 hits and and 23 RBI, while Jackson has a team-high 22 runs with 33 hits and 20 RBI
• The Golden Eagles first met the Racers in 2014. The teams split doubleheaders in 2014, 2015, and 2016. In 2017, however, UNOH defeated CU 9-1 in both games.

Scouting Rochester
• Rochester started the year 6-3, but have since lost 23 straight games to bring their overall record to 6-26, and winless in the WHAC.
• Jenna Dominek leads the WHAC in batting average with a .425 clip along with a .538 slugging percentage.
• The Warriors are being outscored 230-129
• The opposition is batting .365 off the Rochester pitching staff, which has a 7.77 ERA
• The Golden Eagles defeated the Warriors 9-0 and 2-1 in a doubleheader last year.

NEWS AND NOTES ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES

Win in Livonia: The win in game one against Madonna on April 11 was the first win at Madonna's place since 2010. Prior to Wednesday's 3-2 victory, CU had only won three of the previous 29 games with the Crusaders.

Maddie Vassar filling up the stat sheet: Maddie Vassar leads the team in hits (20) and runs (16). The freshman shortstop from Naperville, Illinois has an impressive .328 batting average and a .941 fielding percentage. Vassar recorded her third multi-hit game of the year against Madonna with her first career three-hit game. Vassar is also batting .583 when she bats first in an inning. Since starting the season 1-for-11 over the first four games, Vassar is batting .380 and has reached base safely in all 14 games.

Double digit hits: In Florida, the Golden Eagles had three games where they recorded 10+ hits. Since then, they haven't met that threshold, but have a 4-2 record.

Solid Pitching: The Cornerstone pitching staff has the 5th-best ERA in the WHAC with a solid 3.07. Rachel Younts leads the team with 2.02 followed by Brooke Leonard with 2.88.

RBI Streak: The Golden Eagles have recorded an RBI in 15 straight games. Mackenzie Vallad leads the team with nine RBI, followed by Courtney Ducharme with eight.

Double Trouble: Cornerstone has recorded a double in each of their last seven games. Sierra Sanchez and Lexi Lieske lead the team with four doubles apiece.

Busy Schedule ahead: Due to several games getting postponed, the Golden Eagles will close out the regular season with 16 games in 11 days.

Notable Season Trends:
• The Golden Eagles are 0-8 when they score less than three runs.
• The Golden Eagles are 6-0 when leading after three innings.
• The Golden Eagles are 0-7 when trailing after five innings.
•  The Golden Eagles are 3-0 in games decided by one run.

Softball Contact: Seth Walters
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