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AMES, Iowa. – The Eastern Kentucky University softball team hits the road for Ames, Iowa for the Iowa State Regional in the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) on Thursday. The Colonels will take on No. 3 seed South Dakota State University in their first game.  
 
First pitch will be at 2 p.m. on Thursday in Ames.
 
The rest of the field consists of Iowa State University, Purdue University and University of South Dakota.
 
Inside the Series:                                                                                                                   
-This will be the first ever meeting between Eastern and South Dakota State.
 
-Iowa State leads the all-time series between the two teams, 5-0. The last meeting between the two teams came in 2015, in which the Cyclones won 8-7, in Vegas.
 
-Purdue and Eastern have not met since 1999. The Boilermakers lead the all-time series between the two teams, 2-0.
 
-Eastern leads the all-time series with South Dakota. The two teams last met in 2011 when they split a pair of contests. The Coyotes won the first contest, 8-6, before EKU took game two, 6-2.  
 
 
What EKU Brings:
-EKU comes into the contest at 34-20 after falling to Ohio Valley Conference champion Southeast Missouri State University in the third place game of the conference tournament.  
 
-Sammi Miller leads the offense for the Colonels with a team-high .407 batting average. She has 11 doubles, four triples, one home run and 25 RBIs on the season.
 
-Miller ranks eighth in the country in toughest-to-strikeout with four strikeouts on the year.
 
-Hannah Clark ranks 44th in the country in runs batted in per game.
 
-Paulick ranks second in the country in saves with nine.  
 
-Eastern ranks 47th in the country in home runs per game, 46th in scoring and 46th in batting average on the year.
 
Scouting the Opponent:
-South Dakota State comes into the weekend at 36-17 on the year. Ali Herdiska leads the way offensively for the Jackrabbits. She has a team best .333 batting average, seven doubles, one triple, 14 home runs and 42 RBIs. Kendra Conard paces the staff for SDSU. She is 17-5 on the year with 12 complete games.  
 
-Iowa State will enter the regional at 32-23 on the season. Sami Williams leads the Cyclones offense with a team-best .386 batting average. She has 18 doubles, two triples, 14 home runs and 34 RBIs on the season. Williams ranks 17th in the country in doubles. In the circle the Cyclones are led by Emma Hylen. She is 14-9 on the year with 10 complete games. She has 94 strikeouts over 152 and two-third innings.
 
-Purdue comes into the weekend at 31-27 after falling to Minnesota in the second round of the Big 10 Tournament. Jenny Behan paces the offense for the Boilermakers with a team-best .365 batting average. She has 12 doubles, one triple, 13 home runs and 40 RBIs on the season. In the circle Purdue is led by Kaitlynn Moody and Sydney Bates. Moody is 11-10 on the year with seven complete games. Bates is 12-8 on the year with 116 strikeouts over 142 and one-third innings.
 
-South Dakota enters the weekend at 33-26 after falling in the Summit League finals to North Dakota State. Jamie Holscher leads the way for the Coyotes at the plate with a team-high .370 batting average. She has 13 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs and 47 RBIs on the season. Dustie Durham and Alexis Devers leads the way in the circle. Durham is 14-9 on the year with 12 complete games on the season. Devers comes in with a 3.56 ERA and a 13-14 record on the year.