What Lies Ahead:  The Minnesota State softball team heads to Florida this week for its annual run in the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla.  During MSU's eight-day stay, Minnesota State is scheduled to play 14 games.
    
What Just Happened: The Mavericks swept Minnesota Duluth last week in Vadnnais Heights, earning a 2-1 victory in ten innings in the opener before closing the day with a 2-0 shutout of the Bulldogs.  
  
In the opener, senior pitcher #Kendra Huettl# went the distance to earn the win, striking out 20 batters.  Junior pitcher Courtney McKelvogue pitched a complete-game shutout in the nightcap to pick up the victory.  Over the course of 17 innings the Maverick pitching staff yielded just three hits.

About Our Florida Opponents:  Minnesota State opens its stay at the Rebel Spring games Friday against Simpson and South Dakota.  Simpson, an NCAA Division III school from Iowa was 24-18 last year while South Dakota is an NCAA Division I program which plays in the Summit league.  Last year, the Coyotes were 21-29.
  
Saturday, MSU faces Sciences in Philadelphia who was 9-29 a year ago and Ferris State who was 24-23 last year.  Sunday, Minnesota State faces Saginaw Valley State, the team which it defeated in the first round of the NCAA Championships, 2-1, was 42-18 last year.  Sunday's doubleheader concludes with game against Ashland, a school which went 33-19 a year ago.  Monday, Minnesota State plays Less-McRae who was 26-27 a year ago and C.W. Post, a squad who also advanced to the NCAA Championships a year ago, finishing with a 41-16 record.  Tuesday, March 6th will mark an off day for Minnesota State before it faces Southern Indiana, which was 21-22 a year ago and Seton Hill (18-23 in 2011) on March 7th.  The Mavericks face both C.W. Post and Seton Hill for a second time on March 8th before closing their stay against California (Pa.) which was 29-14 a year ago and Adelphi, which was 29-25 in 2011 on March 9th.

Head Coach Lori Meyer:  One of the most respected coaches in all of NCAA  Division II softball, Lori Meyer is in her 28th year as the head coach of the Minnesota State softball team.  Meyer owns a career record of 882-570-3 (.607) in 1,455 games.  A seven-time NCC Coach of the Year, Meyer has guided the Mavericks to three North Central Conference titles (1987, 1989 and 2007), and guided the ‘87 Mavericks to a third-place finish at the NCAA Division II National Tournament and has made nine trips to the NCAA postseason and two trips to the NCAA Championships (1987, 2011).

Minnesota State History:  The 2012 season marks the 38th for Maverick softball.  MSU owns an all-time record of 1,007-667-7 (.602) in 1,678 games, and have four North Central Conference titles (1984, 1987, 1989, 2007) and ten appearances in the NCAA Division II National Tournament (1984, 1987, 1989, 1995, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011) to its credit.

Team Notes:  Minnesota State has scored two or more runs in every inning except for the first and the fourth this year...The Mavericks have scored seven runs in the seventh inning, its highest run producing inning and six runs in the third...MSU is 3-0 when leading after the sixth inning and 1-0 in extra inning affairs...Sophomore catcher Lindsay Erickson leads the squad with four multiple hit games (three two-hit games and one four-hit game) while freshman Brittani Robinson has a team-high two multiple-RBI games...Senior second baseman Amanda Umhoeffer holds the team's longest active consecutive games on base streak at six while Lindsay Erickson  has the longest active hitting streak at five games...Senior centerfielder Chelsea Erickson has also had a five-game hitting streak this season.

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