Mankato, Minn. --- The Minnesota State softball team will enter the NSIC Tournament as #1 seed after claiming the NSIC regular season title last weekend. The Mavericks will have a first round bye, before they play their first game on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. MSU will face the lowest seed that wins its opening game on day one between #8 Bemidji State, #9 Northern State or #10 Southwest Minnesota State. All games will be played in Sioux Falls, S.D., at Sherman Park.

Last Time Out: MSU closed out its last week of the regular season with a 5-1 record. The Mavericks swept Southwest Minnesota State in a midweek doubleheader, before sweeping Wayne State on Saturday and splitting with Augustana on Sunday.

The Maverick offense finished the week with a .346 batting average while driving in 21 RBI. MSU also collected eight extra base hits, including three home runs. MSU's pitching staff had another solid week as it accumulated a 1.92 team ERA, 53 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched and held opposing batters to a .191 average.

Freshman McKenzie Paap led the way for the Mavericks offensively as she roamed the base paths all week. Paap finished the week with team-high's of a .625 batting average, a .708 slugging percentage, a .625 on-base percentage, 15 total hits, and seven runs scored. She recorded five multi-hit games, including three games with three or more hits. She also notched at least one run scored in five games, including two games with two runs scored.

Sophomore Jess Meidl ended the week with a .471 batting average, as she tallied eight total hits, along with four runs scored, two RBI and two stolen bases. Junior Ashley Thell led MSU with team-high's of five RBI and two doubles, while also posting a .421 batting average, four runs scored and one home run. Junior Dana Mogren collected a .400 batting average with four RBI and three run scored, while senior Karli DesLauriers added a .375 batting average.

Sophomore pitcher Libby Bemis earned her second career "no-hitter" in a Maverick uniform   against Wayne State on Saturday. Bemis' first "no-hitter" came during her freshman campaign  when she no-hit Merrimack on March 11, 2015. 

Junior Coley Ries had another impressive week for the Mavericks as she finished the week with a 3-0 record and a 1.05 ERA. In 26.2 innings she tallied 46 strikeouts and held opposing batters to a .162 average. Against Wayne State, she pitched all 10 innings in the Mavericks 5-4 win, while fanning 14 batters. The next day against Augustana, she held the NSIC's top offensive team to one earned run and added 13 strikeouts to her stat line.

Region Rankings (4/27/16): In the latest installment of the Central Region rankings, MSU stayed put in the five spot. The Mavericks are the highest ranked NSIC team in the poll. Minnesota Duluth sits in the seventh spot, Winona State is eighth and Augustana rounds out the rankings in tenth.

NSIC Tournament History: Since 2009, the Mavericks have put together a 20-10 all-time record in the NSIC Softball Tournament. The Mavericks have taken the crown twice, back in 2012 and 2013.

NSIC Champs: This is the fourth time in the last five years MSU has won the NSIC Championship. 

40 Win Mark: With a 40-13 overall record, this marks as head coach Lori Meyer's ninth time leading the MSU softball program to 40 wins or more.

Consistency: Since joining the NSIC in 2009, coach Meyer has led the MSU softball program to 18 conference wins or more in every season. Including this season with a 23-6 NSIC record, the Mavericks have five seasons with 20 or more wins under Meyer's tutelage. Overall, in eight seasons, Meyer has built a 167-48 (.777) NSIC record.

Player of the Week Accolades: McKenzie Paap was named NSIC Player of the Week. Paap recorded an outstanding .625 batting average over six games this past week with 15 total hits and seven runs scored. She also collected a .708 slugging percentage and the team's only triple of the week.

The Excelsior, Minn. native recorded five multi-hit games, including three games with three or more hits. She notched at least one run scored in five games, including two games with two runs scored. In the Mavericks' sweep over Southwest Minnesota State, Paap went 5-for-8 from the plate and added two RBI and two runs scored. She posted similar numbers in MSU's next twinbill against Wayne State, as she finished 6-for-9 from the dish and scored four runs.

Speed Kills: For the second straight season the Mavericks finished the regular season leading the NSIC in stolen bases. MSU swiped 127 bases so far this which puts the Mavericks eighth in Division II in stolen bases per game (2.40).  The Purple and Gold have five players this season with 10 or more stolen bases including Tatum Klein (25), Jess Meidl (25), McKenzie Paap (23), Dana Mogren (16) and Emily Bransky (11).

Team Hitting: The Mavericks finished the regular season in the top-five of the NSIC in a number of offensive categories this season. MSU led the league in stolen bases (127), sacrifice bunts (65) and sac flies (17).  Second in batting average (.333) and triples (18). Third in total hits (478) and doubles (69). Fourth in total bases (631) and fifth in on-base percentage (.377), runs scored (267) and RBI (223).

Team Pitching: The Mavericks pitching staff has been consistent all season and led the NSIC in variety of statistics this season. MSU led the league in ERA (1.82), opposing batting average (.180), strikeouts (477) and hits allowed (229). The Mavericks placed second in the NSIC in innings pitched (357.1), strikeouts looking (124) and earned runs allowed (93).

Fielding Percentage: The Purple and Gold finished the regular season as the NSIC's top fielding team this season as they put together an impressive .972. That mark ranks 14th in Division II right now.

Lack of Strikeouts: While the MSU pitching staff tallied the most strikeouts in the NSIC this season, the Maverick offense was the opposite. MSU struck out 157 times this season which is the least amount in the NSIC.

Minnesota State History: The 2016 season will mark as the 42nd season for the Maverick softball program. MSU currently owns an all-time record of 1,204-735-7 (.617) in 1,946 games, and has four North Central Conference titles (1984, 1987, 1989, 2007), four Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference title (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) 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.