As the BIG EAST race heats up, the Bulldogs enter a key week of competition. Butler takes its final break from conference play Wednesday, hosting IUPUI. Following that contest, it is BIG EAST play for the remainder of the 2018 season as the Bulldogs have back-to-back road series to close the regular season. Butler travels to DePaul this weekend for a three-game series before making the trek to Queens, N.Y. for a three-game series May 5-6.

Wednesday's game with IUPUI is Butler's final home game of the 2018 campaign.

Butler enters the week with a 7-5 BIG EAST mark, which places the Bulldogs in a three-way tie for third place in the conference standings. The top four (of the eight) teams will qualify for the BIG EAST Tournament in Rosemont, Ill., May 11-12. Butler has been the No. 4 seed in the last two BIG EAST Tournaments, including capturing the 2016 title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament.

The Bulldogs enter the midweek contest with IUPUI as winners of six of their last seven games. That includes taking two of three in a home BIG EAST series with Providence over the weekend. Butler's four seniors – Ambry Turpen, Alyssa Lach, Sarah Dixon, and Mikeila Boroff – were recognized during weekend ceremonies.

Junior Kaitlin Doud earned a spot of last week's BIG EAST Honor Roll. Doud went 2-1 in the circle last weekend, recording wins against UIC and Providence. In the series opener against the Friars, she came on in relief, giving up only two hits and striking out six as the Bulldogs picked up a 2-0 win. In the second game of the doubleheader, Doud made a major difference offensively, registering a walk-off three-run homer to seal the 5-4 victory.

Offensively, Doud leads the Bulldogs in home runs (six), doubles (six), triples (five), and RBIs (28). Those 17 extra-base hits have also given her a team-best .516 slugging percentage. She and freshman Alyssa Graves are tied for the team lead with nine wins each. Overall, Doud has an ERA of 3.49, but that improves to 2.47 in BIG EAST play.

Graves leads the team with an ERA of 2.08. She has 103 strikeouts in 111 innings pitched. Her ERA is the third-best mark in the conference.

Over the past seven games, junior outfielder Jenna Foreman is batting .500 (13-for-26). Her .393 batting average on the season leads the team and is fourth in the BIG EAST. Foreman's 55 hits on the season are second in the BIG EAST and put her on pace to break the Butler single-season record of 62. Foreman has 18 multi-hit games so far this season.

One record that Foreman has already broken (twice) is Butler's single-season stolen base mark. Her 30 stolen bases in 2017 set a new Bulldog record. Already this season, Foreman has 31 swiped bags (in 34 attempts), which leads the BIG EAST.

Foreman isn't the only Bulldog who has been hot recently. Freshman Claire Gilliland had three home runs last week – the first three of her Butler career. Dixon is batting .421 with two home runs over that same seven-game stretch. Dixon has reached base safely in nine straight games, while Gilliland has done that in seven straight contests.

Butler has 16 home runs in 41 games this season; 10 of those have come in the team's seven most recent outings.

Lach has struck out only six times this season (in 122 official at-bats). She is the toughest batter to strike out in the BIG EAST. Lach is batting .368 in Butler's 12 conference games this season.