What Lies Ahead:  The 16th-ranked Minnesota State softball team (17-4) travels to the RCTC Dome in Rochester, Minn., this weekend.

The Mavericks were to face Minot State, St. Cloud State and Winona State over the course of Saturday and Sunday but Minot State is still in Florida for its spring trip.  Efforts are being made to find a fourth team to fill that spot, if it can't be done, an updated schedule will be released when made available.
        
What Just Happened: Minnesota State played to a 13-1 record during its annual stay at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla.  Minnesota State's lone loss came in eight innings by the score of 5-4 against Ashland.

During the trip, Minnesota State saw a pair of pitchers – sophomore Kristen Fah and senior #Kendra Huettl# – rifle no-hitters.   Fah's was the first of her career, while Huettl's was her second, but her first seven-inning no-hitter. The Erickson sisters - senior Chelsea and sophomore Lindsay – led MSU at the plate in Florida as Lindsay hit .318 and Chelsea hit .306.  

As a team, Minnesota State hit .252 while its opponents hit .161.  The Mavericks scored 70 runs in Florida, compared to its opponents 18 and its pitching staff worked to a 0.92 earned average. Huettl led the Mavericks in Florida with a 6-1 record to go with a 0.35 earned run average.
    
MSU was 3-0 against ranked teams last week, earning two wins against #12 CW Post and one win against #14 Saginaw Valley State.

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 895-571-3 (.611) in 1,468 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). 8

Minnesota State History:  The 2012 season marks the 38th for Maverick softball.  MSU owns an all-time record of 1,020-667-7 (.609) in 1,681 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 10 or more runs in each of the first five innings this year with 17 runs in both the first and the fifth innings...With two outs the Mavericks are hitting .259 while its opponents are hitting .169...Minnesota State has advanced its runners 45.6 percent of the time this year and MSU has 31 two-out RBI this season...With runners in scoring position sophomore #Lindsay Erickson# is hitting .381 and senior Melanie Upchurch is hitting .353 while freshman Chelsea Riordan is hitting .316...Lindsay Erickson's 11-game hitting streak to start the season is the longest of the season as was her 15-game streak of reaching base...Freshman Brittani Robinson leads MSU in multiple RBI games with five while Lindsay Erickson leads MSU in multiple hit games with eight.

Huettl Player of the Week: Minnesota State senior pitcher Kendra Huettl has been on a heck of a run during her three weeks as the league's Pitcher of the Week.  

During the span, Huettl has worked to a 7-1 record, while posting a 0.42 earned run average in eight appearances.
    
Opponents hit just .113 off of her while she recorded 73 strikeouts in 49.2 innings of work.

Mow 'em Down: In Minnesota State's 2-1, ten-inning victory over Minnesota Duluth (2/22), Minnesota State senior pitcher Kendra Huettl struck out 20 Minnesota Duluth batters.
    The 20 strikeouts is the most by a Maverick since Katie Karbon struck out 19 against Concordia University on April 6, 2004.

Nationally Speaking:  As a team, Minnesota State ranks in the top-30 in three different statistical categories.

The Mavericks rank third in fielding percentage (0.979), seventh in earned run average (1.25) and tenth in stolen bases per game (2.38).    

Individually, seven Mavericks rank in the top-100 in the nation.  In the circle, senior pitcher Kendra Huettl ranked 11th in earned run average (1.06), tenth in strikeouts per seven innings (9.9), 42nd in victories (8.0), 11th in hits allowed per seven innings (3.91), 15th in strikeouts (94) and 20th in shutouts (3.0).  Junior pitcher Courtney McKelvogue ranked 17th in earned run average (1.28), 59th in strikeouts per seven innings (6.2), 76th in victories (6.0), 50th in hits allowed per game (5.25), 77th in strikeouts (53.0) and 46th in shutouts (2.0).

Sophomore infielder/catcher Lindsay Erickson is 52nd in doubles per game (0.37), 61st in triples (0.11), and 28th in triples (2.0).  Senior outfielder Chelsea Erickson is 566th in stolen bases (0.48), 87th in walks (0.57) and 35th in toughest to strikeout (every 31.5 trips to the plate).  Finally, junior outfielder Lauryn Morris is 29th in walks (0.71), junior shortstop Abby Sonner is 52nd in sacrifice hits per game (0.24), and sophomore Kelly Wood is 96th in home runs (4).

Record Book: Several Mavericks are also making a dent in the record book.
    
Senior pitcher Kendra Huettl is first in career strikeouts (619), second in career wins (76), tied for third in saves (7) tied for fourth in games started (103), fifth in innings pitched (654), complete games (62) and shutouts (17) and sixth in appearances (128).
    
Junior pitcher Courtney McKelvogue is third in appearances (140), fourth in wins (67), fifth in strikeouts (445), seventh in shutouts (12) and tied for eighth in complete games (49).
    
Senior outfielder Chelsea Erickson ranks sixth in career home runs with 21 while junior outfielder Lauryn Morris is fourth in stolen bases with 41.  Senior Melanie Upchurch sits fifth in steals with 34 and junior shortstop Abby Sonner is tied for ninth with 20.

To view the complete version of the notes, click HERE