THIS WEEK IN WKU SOFTBALL ...

Tuesday, April 24

Middle Tennessee at WKU - 5 p.m.

Wednesday, April 25

Lipscomb at WKU (DH) - 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Saturday, April 28

#7 Louisiana-Lafayette at WKU (DH) - 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Sunday, April 29

#7 Louisiana-Lafayette at WKU - 12 p.m.

LADY TOPPERS OPEN FINAL HOMESTAND OF 2012 AGAINST MIDDLE TENNESSEE AND LIPSCOMB: The WKU softball team opens its final homestand of the 2012 season with midweek games against Middle Tennessee and Lipscomb at the WKU Softball Field. The Lady Toppers and Blue Raiders will play a single game Tuesday at 5 p.m. with the Lady Bisons coming to the WKU Softball Field for a doubleheader Wednesday night at 5 p.m.

THREE RUNS OR LESS: The Lady Toppers are 23-3 this year when holding opponents to three runs or less. WKU has pitched seven shutouts this season and are 9-2 when allowing just one run. Conversely, the Lady Toppers are 5-12 when scoring three runs or less.

CRUCE DRIVING IN RUNS:  Freshman infielder Preslie Cruce hit her fifth home run in 12 games on Saturday, as her two-run home run put WKU ahead of ULM 2-1 in the fourth inning of game two of that day’s doubleleader. She has hit five home runs and had eight RBI in the last 13 games after having one home run and four RBI in the first 33 games. During this current stretch, Cruce has hit .353 with a .439 on base percentage and an .853 slugging percentage. She currently leads the Sun Belt in hits by pitch with 23, sixth in on base percentage (.462), and ninth in slugging percentage (.571).

DEW GETTING IT DONE:  Junior catcher Karavin Dew has steadily increased her batting average over the last month. On March 17, Dew was hitting .257 after the first game of WKU’s doubleheader against South Alabama. Since then, Dew has hit .377 with an OPS (on base plus slugging) of 1.006 to move her batting average to a team-leading .309. She has had five multi-hit games during this stretch.

SCOUTING MIDDLE TENNESSEE:  The Blue Raiders find themselves two games back in the loss column to Florida Atlantic for eighth place in the Sun Belt with a 3-15 record. Last weekend, Middle Tennessee was swept in a series at Troy. The Blue Raiders dropped the series finale 6-5 in 10 innings. Kelsey Woodruff leads Middle Tennessee with a .322 batting average. Kaycee Popham has a team-high nine home runs and 25 RBI.