MANKATO, Minn. - The Minnesota State softball team (37-17, 21-7 NSIC) earned the No. 2 seed in the NSIC Tournament with a pair of wins over Southwest Minnesota State last weekend. The Mavericks will now face off against the highest seeded winner of the first round.
NSIC Tournament Second Round Game
3:00 p.m. Start
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About the Mavericks
Minnesota State closed out its regular season with a 2-2 weekend. The Mavericks were swept by the Vikings of Augustana in their double header on Saturday. Despite this, Maddie Helin went 3-for-6 at the plate with the lone run of the day scored for MSU. The team turned it around on Sunday against Southwest Minnesota State, as Minnesota State took care of business with a 9-1 win in five innings and a 3-1 victory in game two. Helin had another solid day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with one RBI and two doubles.
MSU ended the 2025 regular season with a 37-17 record and a 21-7 record against conference opponents. The team's 21 wins were good for second place in the NSIC.
The Mavericks had four all-conference student athletes on their roster this season. Seniors Marina Carter and Brianne Stone were named to the NSIC All-Conference First Team. Carter also found herself on the NSIC All-Defensive Team. Junior first baseman Gianna Lara and Helin both made the NSIC All-Conference Second Team in 2025.
Carter holds a .366 average at the plate and hit .422 in conference play. The speedy centerfielder has 17 stolen bases this season with 49 in her career, which ranks 10th in program history. She had her best day against St. Cloud State at home, as she went a perfect 6-for-6 at the plate. Carter is no slouch in the outfield, either, as she has a perfect 1.000% fielding percentage, no errors this season and is known for her highlight reel diving catches that wipe hits and runs off the board for opposing offenses.
Lara is hitting .333 in 2025 with a .939 OPS. She leads the Mavericks in doubles (13), total bases (84) and RBI (38) this season. She is also second on the team in home runs with six. The MSU first baseman started the conference season with a 12-game hitting streak. She went 3-for-3 at MSU Moorhead with two RBI and two doubles in her best games of the 2025 season.
Helin has had arguably the best bat for the Mavericks since the start of conference play. Through the team's 28 NSIC games in 2025, she hit .398 with a 1.197 OPS, 33 base hits, 26 runs scored, five doubles, one triple and a team-best seven home runs. Helin is also tied with Lara for the team lead in RBI with 23 and leads the team in total bases with 61. The Harris, Minn. native ranks ninth in batting average, third in OPS, sixth in home runs. She is also in a six-way tie for third in RBI. Helin homered in four-straight games against Winona State, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State. In the series against UMD, she went 5-for-7 at the plate with five runs scores, five RBI and two home runs. Helin ended the regular season on a six-game hitting streak.
Stone was named to the NSIC All-Conference First Team for her excellence in the pitcher's circle. The senior from Valencia, Calif. holds a12-6 record, a 1.92 ERA with a 1.10 WHIP and a 1.85 ERA in-conference, good for fifth in the league. Stone has allowed just 27 runs this season. She has struck out 69 batters, 56 of which came in NSIC play, and has four complete games under her belt this season. Stone pitched six innings of one-hit softball against Minnesota Crookston earlier in April and ended that game with seven strikeouts. She earned NSIC Pitcher of the Week honors a few weeks back after she earned a trio of wins against Winona State, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State.
The Mavericks have another 12-win pitcher in their rotation. Sailor Hall is 12-5 this season with a 1.90 ERA. She leads the team with 110.2 innings pitched and 83 strikeouts.
Legendary head coach Lori Meyer is in her 41st season as the Minnesota State softball coach. Meyer has accumulated a 1,405-749-3 record with the Maverick softball team, which is the most wins by an NCAA Division II coach in history. She has coached 31 All-Americans and 126 All-Conference players and has won eight conference titles, taken 17 trips to the NCAA Tournament, and three of her teams have made the NCAA Championship. In 2017, Meyer and the Mavericks won the NCAA DII National Championship.
Minnesota State swept MSU Moorhead earlier this season. In game one, the Mavericks fell behind by five before chipping away at the deficit. Lara hit a two-run homer to tie the game, then after three-scoreless extra innings, the Mavericks put three on the board to win 8-5 in 11 innings. In the second game, the MSU bats kept rolling with an 11-2 win in five innings. Minnesota State is 50-11-1 against MSUM. The Dragons knocked the Mavericks out the NSIC Tournament last season with a 9-0 win in five innings.
The Mavericks split with Minot State in the early goings of the NSIC regular season. Minnesota State won game one, 5-1, but the Beavers came back down 3-0 in game two with four runs in the top of the seventh. Helin hit a homer in the bottom of seven to tie it, but Minot State won 5-4 in 11 innings. It was just the third loss to the Beavers in program history, as MSU is 23-3 against Minot State.
About the Beavers
Minot State finished its 2025 regular season with a 27-24 overall record and a 15-13 record against NSIC opponents. The Beavers started off 11-2 in conference play, but finished the season on a 4-11 streak, including four consecutive losses to close the season against UMD and SCSU.
Junior Anna LaCount has been the most consistent hitter for Minot State in 2025. She led the team with a .368 average at the plate, a .988 OPS, 56 hits, seven home runs and 28 RBI. Sara Van Wickler led the Beavers in extra-base hits with 23, including 12 doubles, six triples and five homers. Paige Kellogg led the way for Minot State with 15 doubles and 30 RBI in 2025.
Reegan Floyd is the team's leading pitcher in the circle. She holds a 2.20 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP and 112 strikeouts in 149.1 innings of work. She has a 13-10 record and has 12 complete games this season.
Sal Rodriguez is the second-year head coach of the Minot State softball program. This is the second-straight season he has led the Beavers to an NSIC Tournament appearance. Last season, Minot State advanced all the way to the Semifinal round before falling to Minnesota Duluth, 2-0.
