MANKATO, Minn. --- The Minnesota State softball team takes its 22 game winning streak on the road as it is set to play six road games in a five day span, finishing with a twinbill against No. 13 Augustana in the Mount Rushmore State.
 
Our Last Outing: The Mavericks kept their streak alive as they downed Upper Iowa by scores of 11-3 in five innings and completed the sweep with a 6-0 victory. Sunday, MSU downed Minot State 13-3 in five innings and made it 22-straight wins posting an 8-5 win in game two.
 
Senior Lindsay Erickson continued her impressive senior season, continuing her historic playing career. The Big Lake, Minn., native started all four games and posted a .583 batting average with a 1.083 slugging percentage. Erickson scored seven runs on seven hits with one double, one triple and a home run, posting three RBI and 13 total bases. In the field, the three time All-American recorded 22 putouts and one assist with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
 
Junior Brittany Lauterbach improved to 15-4 on the season with a pair of wins this past weekend. The Savage, Minn., native pitched 14 innings boasting a 2.00 ERA, allowing five runs (four earned), on 12 hits and 13 strikeouts. Lauterbach held opposing batters to a .222 average.
 
About Winona State: The Warriors of Winona State own a 28-6 overall record and an 11-3 NSIC record that puts them in the third spot in the conference.  A month after winning all 10 games during its spring trip in Orlando, Fla., WSU started an eight-game winning streak, which included sweeps of U-Mary, Concordia-St. Paul, MSU Moorhead and  Northern State.
 
Greg Jones sits at the helm for his 14th season for the Warriors. He is a two-time NSIC Coach of the Year recipient and is Winona State's all-time leader in wins with 547 and counting. His Warriors have won the NSIC Regular Season Championship three times in his tenure with his 2007 team being the most recent.
 
The Warriors possess eight batters with batting averages above .342, including two batters batting above .400. Morgan Lintz stacks up with the best hitters in the NSIC, hitting .408 (7th in the NSIC), six home runs and 42 RBIs (3rd in NSIC). While Jenny Nelson is batting .372, she is also second in the NSIC in RBIs (44) and second in home runs (9).
 
In the circle, Hanna Lythberg has been their ace, starting 22 games and completed 12 of them. After 93 1/3 innings pitched, she has an 2.55 ERA with 65 strikeouts to go with her 14-2 record. Ashley Walker has actually pitched more innings, 95, and has a 2.43 ERA.
 
About Wayne State: With a 29-10 record, Wayne State is currently on a nine-game winning streak with their last loss dating back to April 1 when they lost to Upper Iowa 11-0. The Wildcats have defeated 15 of their 17 NSIC opponents, which gives them second place in the conference.
 
Wildcat's head coach Krista Wood enters her eighth season at Wayne State. When she was given this program in 2006, the Wildcats were irrelevant with a 10-34 record, but Wood has brought the program standards up and broke the school record in wins in a season with 43 in 2010. Last season, Wood's Wildcats finished 28-16 with sixth place in the conference.
 
Kaiti Williams and Sam O'Brien are two batters the NSIC needs to watch out for. Williams is batting .451 with four home runs and 31 RBIs, not to mention she has also stolen nine bases. O'Brien is second in the NSIC in home runs (9) and has 38 RBIs with her .355 batting average.
 
While posting a 2.40 team ERA, the Wildcats pitching staff hasn't given up an earned run in 24 innings. Kelcie Bormann and Sara Scheffert share the time in the circle, and Bormann is tied for 2nd in the NSIC for wins (16) and second in ERA (1.87) and third in strikeouts (137).  Scheffert has a 13-7 record with 82 strikeouts and 2.43 ERA.
 
About  Augustana: Currently on a three-game winning streak, the Vikings are 31-8 overall and 14-4 in the NSIC. The fourth best team in the NSIC is undefeated (8-0) at home this season. Head coach Gretta Melsted has compiled at least 30 wins her last five seasons for the Vikings, including last season with a 32-17 record. Melsted earned Central Region Coach of the Year by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association when her squad went 53-12 overall.
 
The Vikings don't have any troubles hitting the ball out of the part with 32 home runs as a team and has three players with six or more individually. Jordan Schaffer has the most with eight and is batting .307 with 28 RBIs. Jenelle Trautmann has a team-most 31 RBIs with six home runs and a .322 batting average. While batting .416 in 101 at-bats, Lindsay Spanton also has 30 RBIs and a team-high 13 doubles.
 
Trautmann also happens to be the squad's go-to pitcher. In 120 1/3 innings pitched, she owns a 20-3 record and struck out 127 batters with her 2.15 ERA. Carley Pickett has made 17 starts but has also been a great reliever for the Vikings. With a 2.49 ERA, Pickett has a team-high seven saves and has fanned 76 batters.
 
What Ranking?: Minnesota State is a perfect 3-0 against ranked opponents, including wins over then ranked No. 14 Wayne State (Mich.), 5-1; No. 12 LIU-Post, 3-0; and most recently a 12-4 win over then ranked No. 12 Emporia State in six innings.
 
Lighting Up the Board: MSU is currently 10-0 when it scores over 10+ runs in a game; adversely, the Mavericks are 21-1 when holding their opponents to under two runs and have posted 13 shutouts so far this season.

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