ABOUT THE GAMES

• The Millersville softball team is entering its final week of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division play and currently sits four games back from Lock Haven for the final postseason spot. 'Ville is set to host both Shepherd and Kutztown at Seaber Softball Stadium before heading to Bloomsburg on Saturday, April 29 to close out its regular season schedule. 
• The Marauders will look to even their season-series with Shepherd on Tuesday, April 25 after dropping two games to the Rams earlier this season. 
• 'Ville took both games from Kutztown in early April and will look to sweep the season-series with the Golden Bears on Friday, April 28. 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• The Marauders enter the week on a six-game skid that's taken them out of the current PSAC postseason picture, however, there's still time for a late postseason push. 'Ville would most likely need to collect five or six wins in addition to seeing Bloomsburg (No. 6) and Lock Haven (No. 5) come out of the week with losing records.
• Alex Schaefer and Morgan Crutcher need big starts to fuel the Marauders, and they've both shown the ability to have strong games in the circle. Schaefer currently holds a 3.06 earned-run average (ERA) with 169 strikeouts, which ranks No. 2 in the conference.
• Crutcher's ERA is slightly higher at 4.39, however, the junior allowed just seven runs in four starts before the Marauders' losing streak and will look to bounce back in a week where she'll likely see three starts.
• On offense, Aleese Angelo has been one of the more impressive batters in the PSAC this season, ranking top-10 in several statistical categories including a conference-leading 20 doubles. In addition to doubles, Angelo leads the team in average (.408), RBIs (48), homeruns (8), triples (3) total bases (108), hits (58) and walks (20). She recently broke the Marauder single-season records for both doubles and extra-base hits (31) – she is currently four RBIs away from tying Rebecca Blatt's single-season RBI record of 52.
• A number of Marauders are having strong seasons on the plate as well, Gabby D'Ottavio and Sam Fried being two of them. D'Ottavio currently holds a .360 batting average, 49 hits and 36 RBI's. Fried is batting .293 with a team-leading 36 runs scored and 16 doubles, which ranks third in single-season program history.

SCOUTING THE RAMS

• Shepherd has won three of its last four games, including a split with Lock Haven on April 23.
• On offense, the Rams are led by Nicole Purtell who bats .455 with 45 RBI's. 52 runs scored and 18 doubles. She's joined by six addition plus-.300 batters, including Kylie Condon who has five homeruns and six triples this season while batting .364.
• Hannah Ruffner leads the Rams in the circle with a 2.56 ERA and a 9-4 record. Earlier this season she held the Marauders to one run on four hits in five innings of work. Katie Laing also drew a start against 'Ville this season and the Marauders saw her better, taking four runs on six hits in seven innings.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS

• Kutztown enters the week on a seven-game winning streak and recently clinched its postseason berth. The Marauders are one of two teams in the Eastern division to sweep KU this season. The previous doubleheader saw 39 runs scores as 'Ville took game one 6-2 and walked away with a 17-14 victory in the second game.
• The Golden Bears are led by Sarah Harvey who bats .379 with a team-high six homeruns. She's joined by Brianna Stocklin who bats .350 with 35 runs scored.
• In the circle, Haley Gravish holds a team-high 1.95 ERA. Gravish has given up seven earned runs over six innings to Millersville this season.