COLUMBIA, Ky. – Following a brief non-conference detour on Wednesday afternoon, the Lindsey Wilson softball team is set to return to its Mid-South route this weekend in Lebanon, Tennessee against Cumberland University.

The Blue Raiders (13-10, 4-4 MSC) have won three in-a-row and four of their last five, including a two-game sweep of Bryan (Tenn.) earlier this week at home. The Phoenix (13-9, 1-7 MSC) recently bounced back from a tough conference series with 6th-ranked Cumberlands (Ky.) to take two from Augustana (Ill.) on Monday.

Cumberland actively ranks second in the Mid-South for batting average at 0.328. That mark is headlined by 2023 Mid-South Freshman of the Year Anna Lay, who, herself, holds the league's second-best batting average of 0.463 and leads the conference with 22 stolen bases.

Teammates Abby Chappell and Kenzie France pace the Phoenix for runs batted-in with 25 and 23, respectively, while Kaitlin Higgins and Carley Clinard have combined for 14 complete games and all 13 of Cumberland's wins in the circle.

Lindsey Wilson has split both of its conference series so far this season, winning two at then-(RV) Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) and against (RV) Campbellsville (Ky.). The Blue Raiders are hitting 0.253 in Mid-South play behind the likes of Brylee Pickerell, Kelsie Bostock, Elizabeth Funk, and Tanlee Hudgins, who are each batting plus-.300 versus league opponents.

Pickerell and Hudgins both enter the weekend in their respective tears. The latter of the two is 6-for-9 with a double, two home runs, and seven runs batted-in in her last four appearances, while Pickerell is 9-for-18 with three doubles, three home runs, and eight runs batted-in across her last six games.

In the circle, Kayden Murray is 3-1 in Mid-South action and boasts a league-high 79 strikeouts. Fellow pitcher Savannah Robbins snatched her first conference win in the series finale against Campbellsville and is 2-0 in her last two appearances.

Cumberland got the best of Lindsey Wilson a season ago with a three-game sweep in Columbia, but the Blue Raiders have won five of the last six meetings in Lebanon.

The 2024 series opens at 1 p.m. CST on Friday, March 29 then continues at 12 p.m. CST on Saturday, March 30.

Live coverage of this weekend's action is presented by the Cumberland Sports Network.