MANKATO, Minn. --- The fifth-rated Minnesota State softball team looks to complete the three-peat of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season and tournament champions as it travels to Sioux Falls, S.D., to compete in the NSIC Tournament. 

Our Last Outing: The Mavericks went 5-1 in the final week of the regular season as they clinched their third-straight NSIC regular season crown. MSU started the week sweeping USF 3-0 and 11-3 in six innings before capturing a pair of wins against St. Cloud State 3-1 and 9-1 in five innings. The Purple and Gold split with Minnesota Duluth in the final day of the conference slate earning a 4-0 victory in game one before falling 6-2 in the final game. With the split, MSU finished the regular season 41-9 overall and 25-3 in NSIC action.
 
Senior Anna Cole had the big stick offensively for the Mavericks, she finished the week with a .550 scoring five runs on 11 hits in 20 at bats including a double, two triples and a home run. As a unit, MSU batted .327 compared to just .186 by its opponents.
 
Freshman pitcher Coley Ries finished the final week of the regular season posting a 3-1 record with three starts and three complete games. The Eagle Lake, Minn., native recorded a 1.17 ERA allowing four earned runs in 24 innings of with 41 strikeouts.
 
Best in the League: The Minnesota State softball team cleaned house with NSIC Postseason accolades as head coach Lori Meyer was named the NSIC Coach of the Year, senior catcher Lindsay Erickson brought home her second NSIC Player of the Year accolades in addition to being named to her fourth First-Team All-NSIC and NSIC Gold Glove while freshman pitcher Coley Ries was named NSIC Pitcher of the Year and NSIC Freshman of the Year as well as First-Team All-NSIC recognition. Senior Samantha Holien also received First-Team All-NSIC praise as well. Seniors Kelly Wood and Anna Cole in addition to junior Brittany Lauterbach were all named to the Second-Team All-NSIC.
 
Nationally Known: The Minnesota State softball team made its first appearance in the NFCA Top-25 Poll, debuting at No. 12 and in the most recent installment, the Mavericks are ranked No. 5, nationally.
 
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 11-0 when it scores over 10+ runs in a game; adversely, the Mavericks are 28-2 when holding their opponents to under two runs and have posted 16 shutouts so far this season.
 
Isn't That Grand?: Head coach Lori Meyer has won 1,009 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 (325), hits (471), RBI (296) and total bases (676). Individually, senior Samantha Holien leads the NSIC in runs (51) and hits (71). Fellow senior Lindsay Erickson boasts the league's best batting average (.445), and has the second-best slugging percentage (.747). In the circle, freshman Coley Ries leads the NSIC in ERA (1.59), opposing batter average (.187) and second in batters struck out looking (62) and runs allowed (42).
 
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