Mankato, Minn. --- The Minnesota State softball team will take on St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth this weekend up in St. Cloud, Minn. at the Husky Dome. MSU will first play SCSU on Friday at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., before turning its attention to UMD on Saturday. Games times are scheduled for 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

Originally, MSU was supposed to host the Huskies and Bulldogs this weekend at the MSU softball diamond but due to weather conditions the games had to be moved. The Mavericks will still be the home team in the boxscores.

Last Time Out: The Mavericks opened up their conference slate of games this week with a doubleheader sweep of Concordia-St. Paul on Tuesday in St. Paul, Minn. MSU defeated CU by scores of 5-1 and 10-2.

In the 5-1 victory, junior Coley Ries earned the win for the Mavericks, as she threw a complete game in which she gave up just one run, on four hits, while striking out 13. Ries' scoreless inning streak came to an end at 45.1 innings as the Golden Bears recorded their only run in the bottom of the third.

After a pair of scoreless innings to start the game, both teams reached the scoring column in the third. With one out in the top of the third, senior Karli DesLauriers singled down the left field line and then stole second. Freshman McKenzie Paap then plated DesLauriers with an RBI-single up the middle to put MSU up 1-0.

The bottom of the third saw CU knot up the score at 1-1. The Mavericks responded quickly in the top of the fourth as junior Samantha Buhmann doubled down the right field line. She eventually came in to score on a pair of sacrifice bunts to put MSU up 2-1.

After a scoreless fifth inning the Maverick offense responded with three runs in the top of the sixth to go up 5-1. Junior Dana Mogren and Buhmann found themselves on second and first to start the inning after a pair of singles. Sophomore Kara Lattery then reached base on an error by the third baseman with Buhmann scoring. With runners at second and third, sophomore Jess Meidl then plated Buhmann with a sacrifice fly, before junior Ashley Thell drove in Lattery with a single up the middle.

The Mavericks finished the day with a 10-2 victory over the Golden Bears in game two as the offense tallied 13 hits, five walks and three stolen bases. 

MSU also received a strong pitching performance in the win from senior Katie Koponen [1-0]. It was her first start of the season and she earned the win as she pitched all seven innings and struckout five batters, while allowing six hits and two earned runs.

When it was all said and done, Dana Mogren finished the game 3-of-5 from the plate with five RBI, three runs scored, a home run, a double and a stolen base. Samantha Buhmann and Kara Lattery each chipped in with two hits and two RBI of their own, while Karli DesLauriers added two hits and two runs scored as well. 

Concerning St. Cloud State: The Huskies enter Friday's doubleheader with a 15-12 overall record and a 1-1 record in NSIC play. The Huskies split with Minnesota Duluth on Tuesday in St. Cloud.

SCSU is coached by Paula U'Ren who is her 19th season at the helm. The Mavericks own a 72-52 all-time record over the Huskies. Last season MSU and SCSU split its lone doubleheader in St. Cloud.

This season the Huskies have six players batting .300 or better and seven players with 10 or more RBI. SCSU has tallied the most hits and runs this season in the NSIC with 233 and 162, respectively.

Junior Abby Bunnell leads the Huskies with 37 hits as she owns a .398 batting average. Bunnell also leads the team with 24 runs scored and 17 stolen bases. Junior Alyssa Coletto also boasts a .398 batting average, while junior Jessica Gorger leads SCSU with four home runs, 21 RBI and 12 walks. 

In the circle, freshman Kate Kopeck owns a 5-1 win-loss record and a 2.66 ERA. She has pitched in 44.2 innings and has struckout 34 batters. Senior Senna Franseconi owns a team-leading 56 strikeouts as she has appeared in 16 games, including 12 starts. She owns a 6-4 record with a 3.46 ERA in 79.1 innings.

Concerning Minnesota Duluth: The Bulldogs currently own a 12-7 overall record and a 1-1 record in conference play. UMD split with SCSU on Tuesday in St. Cloud.

The Bulldogs are coached by first year head coach Jen Walter. The Mavericks own a 41-35 all-time record over the Bulldogs. Last season, MSU and UMD split its two games as the Mavericks defeated the Bulldogs 3-0 in game one, before UMD got revenge in game two and won 3-2.

UMD this season has four players with 10 or more stolen bases. Sophomore Hannah Schmoll leads the Bulldogs with 13 swipes of the base and is tied for a team-leading runs scored of 17.  Sophomore Natalie Wright has 11 stolen bases and leads UMD with a .338 batting average. Sophomore Becky Smith leads the team with 17 RBI, three home runs and 17 runs scored, along with 10 stolen bases.

In the circle, senior Cayli Sadler leads the team with a 7-4 record and a 2.58 ERA. She has appeared in 11 games, including nine starts as she has struckout 30 batters in 62.1 innings. Junior Sam Hartmann is 5-3 on the season with a 3.85 ERA. She has pitched in 56.1 innings and owns a team-leading 44 strikeouts.
  
Scoreless Innings Streak: Junior pitcher Coley Ries' scoreless innings streak came to an end Tuesday against Concordia-St. Paul. Ries finished with a 45.1 innings scoreless streak. During her streak, she tallied 90 strikeouts. The Mankato East product  is currently just 30 strikeouts behind MSU's all-time strikeout leader Kendra Huettl.

Minnesota State History: The 2016 season will mark as the 42nd season for the Maverick softball program. MSU owns an all-time record of 1,183-729-7 (.617) in 1,912 games, and has four North Central Conference titles (1984, 1987, 1989, 2007), three Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title (2012, 2013, 2014) and 13 appearances in the NCAA Division II National Tournament (1984, 1987, 1989, 1995, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014) to its credit.