MANKATO, Minn. --- 12th-rated Minnesota State softball controls its own destiny as it enters the final week of the regular season with a one game lead on Winona State atop the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings. 

Our Last Outing: The Mavericks went 4-2 in their last road trip of the 2014 campaign as it fell to Winona State by scores of 2-1 in eight innings and 10-2 in five innings last Tuesday. MSU  defeated Wayne State College by scores of 3-2 and 8-0 in five innings. With the pair of wins head coach Lori Meyer surpassed the 1,000 career wins.
 
Seniors Lindsay Erickson and Kelly Wood had the heavy sticks for MSU, Erickson batted .529 scoring four runs on nine hits in 17 at bats, while Wood batted .429 with two runs on nine hits in 21 at bats.
 
Freshman Coley Ries earned a 3-1 record in four games and three starts. She gave up five earned runs in 25.2 innings of work with 26 strikeouts for a 1.36 ERA. Ries held opposing batters to a .202 average.
 
About Sioux Falls: The Cougars of Sioux Falls added their 27th and 28th win of the season this past weekend with a sweep over Upper Iowa. With a 16-7 NSIC record, the squad sits fifth in the conference and is 2-3 on the road.
 
USF hired Kelsey Thompson, an MSU alumnist as their new head coach back in June 2013. The former Augustana College assistant started her first season as a head coach back in February and so far is sitting well in the NSIC.
 
With a .299 team batting average the Cougars possess six players batting above .300, including Erin Scott and Betsy Thomas. Scott holds the team's batting title with a .377 batting average with her two triples and 18 RBI. In the circle, Amanda Walters and Bailey Bouman lead the way. Walters owns a 17-6 record with an impressive 186 strikeouts in 147 innings pitched. While she leads the team with a 2.33 ERA, Bouman has made 15 starts and completed 11 of them.
 
About St. Cloud State: St. Cloud State is 11-25-1 overall and 5-14-1 in the NSIC. After being swept by Minot State this past weekend, the Huskies are on a three-game losing streak, which featured a 9-1 loss to the University of Mary. Paula U'Ren is entering her 17th season at the helm. Her best season was in 1999 when the Huskies finished with a 44-14 record and advanced to the championship round of the NCAA regionals.
 
Putting runs on the board has been a struggle for the Huskies with only 107 runs in 37 games. Breana Canova has been the most consistent Huskies batter, leading the team in batting average (.352), RBI (20), doubles (9) and slugging percentage (.463). With a 4.83 team ERA, the Huskies have a pitching duo in Kelly Franks and Senna Francesconi. In 100.1 innings, Franks has a 3.42 ERA with 105 strikeouts and a 3-9 record. Francesconi has a 5.21 ERA in 27 appearances and has struck out 83 batters for a 7-7 record.
 
About Minnesota Duluth: The Bulldogs own a 21-17 overall record while going 7-6 in the circuit. Before a 9-7 loss to University of Mary, the squad took three NSIC games in a row, including a sweep over Minot State. Head coach Jen Banford is entering her eighth season at UMD and is coming off her best season yet. While winning her first NSIC regular season championship, Banford led the Bulldogs to a 41-13 overall record and her fourth NCAA II Central Regional Tournament.
 
Hitting .280 as a unit, the Bulldogs are led by Megan Mullen and Jordan Rice. While both are the only two batters on the roster with 20 or more RBI, Mullen with 22 and Sadler with 29, the two also have hit a team-leading eight home runs. Mullen possesses a .349 batting average with eight doubles while Rice leads the team with 11 doubles and one triple. Cayli Sadler has been the ace for the Bulldogs with 163 innings pitched and a 6-10 record. She's struck out 133 batters and has walked 55 with a 2.45 ERA.
 
Nationally Known: The Minnesota State softball team made its first appearance in the NFCA Top-25 Poll, debuting at No. 12.
 
What Ranking?: Minnesota State is 5-2 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. The Mavericks most recently lost a pair of games to No. 25 Winona State before rebounding with a sweep over No. 17 Augustana.
 
Lighting Up the Board: MSU is currently 10-0 when it scores over 10+ runs in a game; adversely, the Mavericks are 24-2 when holding their opponents to under two runs and have posted 14 shutouts so far this season.
 
Isn't That Grand?: Head coach Lori Meyer has won 1,004 games in her coaching tenure and was just the 26th softball coach to reach the 1,000-win mark in all NCAA divisions and just the seventh to do so in the DII ranks.
 
League Leading: As a unit, MSU leads the league in several statistical categories including runs scored (293), hits (421), RBI (267) and total bases (607). Individually, senior Samantha Holien leads the NSIC in runs (48) and hits (67). Fellow senior Lindsay Erickson boasts the league's best batting average (.457), and has the second-best slugging percentage (.798). In the circle, freshman Coley Ries leads the NSIC in ERA (1.67), opposing batter average (.197) and second in batters struck out looking (55).

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