WAVERLY, Iowa-- WAVERLY, Iowa – The Wartburg softball team (11-7 overall) will open Iowa Conference play against the University of Dubuque (8-10) Saturday at 1 p.m. in Dubuque and then return home to host UW-Stout (6-10) Sunday at 2 p.m.

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Click here for the live stats (Sunday).

The Series
The Knights have the series lead over the Spartans with a 53-17 overall record, including a season sweep last year that helped them qualify for the Iowa Conference Tournament.

The all-time series lead is tied at 5-5 with the Blue Devils and the teams split last year's doubleheader in Menomonie, Wis.

Wartburg
Junior Mara Forsyth (Charles City) leads the team in batting average (.426), doubles (7), and RBIs (25). She also has three home runs on the season, which has helped her place seventh most in a career for home runs at Wartburg with 13. Last year, she slugged a two-run home run over the centerfield fence against the Spartans.

Sophomore Kailee O'Brien (Altoona) is second on the team in batting average at .424 along with 11 RBIs. Against the Spartans last year, O'Brien was 3-6 with two runs.
Senior Taylor Smola (Stevens Point, Wis.) is second on the team with 15 RBIs and three home runs. She is hitting fourth-best with an average of .333 to go with four doubles this season.

Senior Kimberly Wedeking (Clarksville) leads the pitchers with a 2.78 ERA, eight wins and seven complete games. She is leading the team in home runs with four and third on the team in batting average at .349 and RBIs with 14.  Last year, Wedeking pitched a complete game while allowing only eight hits and five strikeouts.

Dubuque
Taylor Allard leads the Spartans in batting average (.500), home runs (5), and RBIs (17).

Mackenzie Kyle has the best ERA on the team at 1.06. She has three wins along with four complete games. Last year against Wartburg, she pitched three and two-thirds innings in the first game with four hits and two strikeouts.

UW-Stout
Kyncaide Diedrich leads the team at the plate (.385) and Beth Wood follows closely at .381. Wood also leads the pitching staff with her 3.60 ERA and is 4-4 in 44.2 innings pitched.

Career Record Watch
Wedeking has moved up to the No. 6 spot on the program's career-leader list in complete games (38) and is eighth in strikeouts (191).

Forsyth is seventh in career home runs (13).

National Stat Rankings
Wartburg ranks in the top 100 of nine NCAA stat categories.

The Knights rank 21^st in stolen bases per game (2.75), 51^st in home runs per game (0.50), 64^th in W/L percentage (0.688), 69^th in slugging percentage (0.458), 70^th in scoring (6.25), 71^st in doubles per game (1.69), 79^th in on-base percentage (0.392), 93^rd in batting average (0.321), and 97^th in triples per game (0.31).

Individually, three Knights rank in the top 100 of six different categories. Junior Mara Forsyth (Charles City, Iowa) ranks 28^th in runs batted in per game (1.38), and 56^th in RBIs (22).

Senior Kimberly Wedeking (Clarksville, Iowa) ranks 27^th in victories (8), 77^th in home runs (3), and 97^th in strikeouts (43). Senior Taylor Smola (Stevens Point, Wis) ranks 77^th in home runs (3).