MANKATO, Minn. --- The #14 ranked Minnesota State softball team returns to the diamond Thursday as they begin their quest for their 11th conference title as the second seed with the start of the NSIC Tournament. Minnesota State will take on one of three opponents in the second round of the conference tourney. The Mavericks will play the highest remaining seed which is either Upper Iowa University, Southwest Minnesota State, or the University of Sioux Falls. The lowest remaining seed will face Augustana University, who is the number one overall seed, in the second round.

Mavericks at a Glance: Minnesota State (44-10, 26-4 NSIC) begins the week ranked as the #14 team in the NFCA Coaches Poll. The Mavericks went 6-0 last week in their final three doubleheaders of the regular season. On Tuesday, Minnesota State played host to the Warriors of Winona State inside the Maverick All-Sports Dome. In a pitchers dual in game one, Ward and the Mavericks prevailed with a 1-0 win. Game two saw another tightly contested affair with the Mavericks once again edging out the Warriors with a final of 4-3. Sunday the Mavericks traveled to Bismarck, N.D., to take on the Marauders of the University of Mary. Minnesota State's offense dominated in both games with a 7-2 and 12-4 sweep of the Marauders. In the final regular season matchup of the year, the Mavericks visited Minot State University to take on the Beavers. MSU took game one 3-0 and game two 4-2 to go 6-0 in the final week of play.

Scouting Upper Iowa: Upper Iowa University is located in Fayette, Iowa., and is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Peacocks currently own an 23-26 (14-15 NSIC) record and finished seventh in the NSIC regular season standings. Upper Iowa is led by head coach Kiki Stokes who is in her first season with Peacocks.

Upper Iowa is led at the plate by Katie Crogan who is batting .473 and has driven in 75 runs with 71 hits and 17 homeruns on the year. Sydney Wilcox is the leading pitcher on the Peacocks with a 4.34 ERA and a 11-15 record. Wilcox has 74 strikeouts and 46 walks in 164.2 innings pitched. 

Thursday's game would mark the 39th all-time meeting between these two programs, the most recent of which was a 12-11 win for the Mavericks on April 12, 2022.

Scouting Southwest Minnesota: Southwest Minnesota State is located in Marshall, Minn., and is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Mustangs currently own an 20-29 (12-14 NSIC) record and finished eighth in the NSIC regular season standings. The Mustangs are led by head coach Bailey Bouman who is in her fourth season.

The Mustangs are led at the plate by senior Bailey Johnson who has a .362 batting average and has driven in 31 runs with four homeruns. Junior Shelby Bloemendaal is the leading pitcher with a 4.60 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 121.2 innings pitched.

Thursday's game would mark the 98th all-time meeting between these two programs, the most recent of which was an 5-3 win for Minnesota State on April 6, 2022.

Scouting University of Sioux Falls: University of Sioux Falls is located in Sioux Falls, S.D., and is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Cougars currently own an 23-23 (11-14 NSIC) record and finished ninth in the NSIC regular season standings. The Cougars are led by head coach Shannon Pivovar who is in her fourth season with the team.

At the plate the Cougars are led by senior infielder Kylie Madrid. Madrid has a .375 batting average and has driven in 34 runs and eight homers. In the circle sophomore Hanna Cress is their number one pitcher with a 3.88 ERA and has 98 K's in 133.2 innings pitched.

Thursday's game would be the 18th meeting between these two programs, the most recent of which was a 5-1 win for the Mavericks on April 21, 2022.

1,000 K's: Senior pitcher Mackenzie Ward recorded her 1,000th career strike out against Bemidji State on April 16 inside the Mavericks All-Sports Dome. Ward is the second Maverick all-time to reach this mark. The only other Maverick pitcher to reach this mark was Coley Ries (2013-17) who recorded 1,418 strikeouts during her time as a Maverick.

K's For Days: Mackenzie Ward is currently fifth in the nation and is second in the NSIC with 288 strikeouts in 35 appearances. Ward is second in the country and first in the NSIC in earned run average with 0.69, allowing just 19 earned runs in 193.1 innings pitched. Ward has held opposing batters to an average of .145 which leads the NSIC. Her 27 wins is leading the conference and is second in the NCAA. Ward has also been named NSIC Pitcher of the Week the last eight out of nine weeks and was named NFCA Pitcher of the Week once. She has been named Pitcher of the Week 18 times in her career. Ward is currently tied for second all-time in wins as a Mavericks with 97.

Stat Pack: Ellie Tallman leads the Mavericks and is 10th in the NSIC in hitting with a .398 batting average and 13 runs batted in and leads the team in on-base percentage with .507. Madi Newman leads the team in RBI with 44. Madi Newman also leads the team in homers with six. Torey Richards ranks sixth all-time in hits with 244 as a Maverick. Richards surpassed Deb Westrum (1994-97) who had 235 career hits. Sydney Nielsen & Hailey Forshee have the hot hands in the field. Nielsen has 268 put outs with one error for a fielding percentage of .997 and one double play. Forshee has 356 put outs with only two errors for a .995 fielding percentage. She has assisted in turning nine double plays for Minnesota State in the 2022 campaign.

Record Setter: With the Mavericks win over Stonehill College on March 10, head coach Lori Meyer (1,331) earned her 1,300-career win. Meyer, who began her coaching career at MSU in 1985, entered 2022 as the winningest active coach in NCAA Division II. She is only the second coach in the history of NCAA DII softball to win at least 1,300 games, trailing only Gary Bryce, who had 1,340 wins at Wayne State (Mich.) in a career that spanned 1982-2021.

In The Polls: Minnesota State has been tabbed as the 14th ranked team in this week's edition of the National Fast Pitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Poll. The Mavericks are joined in the rankings by Augustana University who is ranked 12th. In the NCAA Division II Central Region Rankings the Mavericks still hold the third spot. 

NSIC Honors: Six Mavericks have earned NSIC honors. Mackenzie Ward was named Pitcher of the Year for the second time and to the All-NSIC First Team. Madi Newman was named to the All-NSIC First Team. A pair of Mavericks in Ellie Tallman and Sydney Nielsen were named to the All-NSIC Second team. Hailey Forshee earned NSIC Gold Glove Team recognition and Cheyenne Behrends was named NSIC Freshman of the Year and to the All-NSIC Second Team.

Minnesota State History: The 2022 season marks the 49th season of Maverick softball. MSU owns an all-time record of 1,422-802-7 (.637) in 2,232 games, and has four North Central Conference (NCC) titles (1984, 1987, 1989, 2007), five  NSIC titles (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017) and 17 appearances in the NCAA Division II National Tournament (1984, 1987, 1989, 1995, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018) to its credit. The Mavericks claimed their first National Championship in 2017 after defeating No. 1 Angelo State, 5-1, on May 29, 2017, in Salem, Va. 


Looking Ahead: Up next, the Mavericks enter the NSIC tournament that begins Thursday May 5 and culminating with the championship game on May 7 at the RYFSA Complex in Rochester, Minn. 




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