OXFORD, Ala. – The Eastern Kentucky University softball team opens up the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Wednesday.
 
First pitch will be at 1:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday. All games will air on ESPN+.
 
Eastern is the five seed and will open up in the single elimination part of the tournament.  The Colonels tied for third in the OVC standings with two other teams, just one game out of first place.  However, by virtue of the tiebreaking procedures, EKU dropped to the fifth seed.
 
If Eastern Kentucky wins its first game it moves into the double elimination portion of the tournament and will take on the four seed, Murray State University, Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
 
Inside the Series:                                                                                                                   
-SIUE leads the all-time series between the two teams, 15-9.  
 
-EKU won both meetings this year in Richmond, winning game one, 6-2, and winning game two, 10-2.
 
What EKU Brings:
-EKU comes into the tournament at 30-18 (16-6 OVC) after sweeping a pair of contests against Belmont on Thursday.
 
-Hannah Clark and Destinee Lizzmore pace the offense for the Colonels. Clark has a .356 batting average, with 10 doubles, 13 home runs and team-best 52 RBIs. Lizzmore is hitting .349 with 12 doubles, one triple, a team-high 14 home runs and 41 RBIs.
 
-Clark ranks 24th in the country in runs batted in per game.
 
-Sammi Miller ranks third in the country in toughest to strikeout, having struck out only two times all year.    
 
-Paulick ranks seventh in the country in saves with six.  
 
-Eastern ranks 42nd in the country in home runs per game and 46th in the country in scoring.
 
Scouting the Opponent:
-SIU Edwardsville comes into the tournament at 16-27 (8-14 OVC) and the eight seed after splitting a pair of games against Austin Peay over the weekend.   
 
-The Cougars are led by Alyssa Heren at the plate. She has a team-best .363 batting average with 15 doubles, one triple and 14 RBIs on the year. Emily Ingles and Corrina Rivas lead the way in the circle for SIUE. Ingles is 6-14 on the year with a team-best 4.69 ERA. She has 92 strikeouts over 112 innings pitched. Rivas is 8-9 on the year with a 5.09 ERA.
 
-Murray State comes into the weekend at 26-25 (16-6 OVC) and is the No. 4 seed in the tournament.  
 
-Lillie Goetz paces the offense for the Racers. She has a team-best .317 batting average, with 12 doubles, one triple, four home runs and 37 RBIs. Hannah James leads the way in the circle for the Racers. She is 12-11 on the year with 120 strikeouts over 157 and two-third innings pitched. She has 13 complete games on the year.