With the BIG EAST season heading toward its most important stretch, the Bulldogs travel to Providence this weekend for a three-game series that will go a long way in shaping the conference standings.

The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday followed by a scheduled single game Sunday. All three games will be streamed live with links available on ButlerSports.com.

The BIG EAST season has just two weekend series remaining as the eight teams jockey for a top-four spot in the conference standings and a berth in the BIG EAST Tournament May 10-11 in Rosemont, Ill.

The Bulldogs enter the weekend with a 3-8 BIG EAST mark (15-28 overall), while Providence is currently in the fifth spot in the conference standings at 6-8 (25-19 overall). St. John's and DePaul hold the top two spots in the BIG EAST at 11-2 and 9-2, respectively.

Sophomore Alyssa Graves leads the Bulldogs in the circle with a 2.94 ERA. That mark is good for fifth in the BIG EAST. She has 165 strikeouts in 133.1 innings of work. Her strikeout total tops the conference. Dating back to April 7, Graves has 59 strikeouts over her last seven appearances. She has thrown a total of 37.2 innings during that stretch. In two starts over the weekend at Creighton, Graves allowed only three total hits in 11 innings of work, striking out 17 Bluejays.

As a staff, Butler's 3.51 team ERA is third in the BIG EAST.

Freshman Lauren Fey leads the Bulldogs in the batter's box with a .333 average. She's been particularly good in the clutch as eight of her 10 RBI have come with two outs. Those eight RBI in that situation lead the team. Fey has 11 multi-hit games on the season, including five hits against La Salle March 17. Those five hits tied a Butler single-game record.

Senior Jenna Foreman is third on the team in hitting, posting a .315 average. She leads the team with 45 base hits, including a team-best 13 multi-hit games in 2019. Her 28 stolen bases not only lead the Bulldogs, but it's also the best mark in the BIG EAST. Foreman is approaching her third consecutive 30-stolen base season, which has contributed to her 104 career swipes. A year ago, Foreman set Butler single-season records for both hits (63) and stolen bases (35).

Eight Bulldogs have sent balls over the fence so far this season. Senior Kaitlin Doud leads the Bulldogs with five home runs. Freshman Karli Ricketts has a team-best 20 RBI on the season, one more than teammates Doud and Sammy Andersen. Christina Candotti has four home runs on the season with each coming since March 26. Candotti had a career-high four RBI in Sunday's 8-0, five-inning win at Creighton.

After battling through some injuries throughout the season, sophomore Maddie Moore has returned to the line-up. Her .316 batting average is second on the team. Moore went 2-for-3 at the plate, including an RBI double in Tuesday's 3-2 loss at Ball State.

Ricketts performance with the bat has been supplemented by some strong work in the circle. She has started 14 games, posting a 3.54 ERA. That includes a five-inning no-hitter against Green Bay March 8. Ricketts has allowed only eight earned runs over her last eight appearances, a stretch of 35 innings of work.

Following the weekend series at Providence, the Bulldogs will return to Indianapolis to close the regular season with a three-game series against St. John's. Butler's seniors will be recognized during weekend play May 4-5 at the Butler Softball Field.