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Minnesota State University - Mankato Athletics

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2017 NCAA Division II Softball Champions

2017 Softball NCAA CHampionship
2017 Minnesota State Softball Team | 64-7 (28-2 NSIC)

2017 Minnesota State Softball Roster

ries
esselman
paap
rickels
krai
stone
bemis
ewoldt
mogren
kennedy
thell
meidl
rieck
majeski
buhmann
meyer
Kristle Wolcott
hildreth

First Row (L-R): Coley Ries, Carly Esselman, McKenie Paap, Alyssa Rickels, Amber Kral, Caitlin Stone.

Second Row (L-R): Libby Bemis, Ashley Ewoldt, Dana Mogren, Cori Kennedy, Ashley Thell, Jessica Meidl.

Third Row (L-R): Kennedy Rieck, Bria Majeski, Samantha Buhmann, Lori Meyer, Kristle Wolcott, Sammie Hildreth.

NCAA Championship Highlights

Rickels_Alyssa1
MSU vs. Southern Indiana Highlights (Begins at 1:18)
Samantha Buhmann
MSU vs. Armstrong State Highlights (Begins at 0:41)
Dana Mogren
MSU vs. West Virginia Wesleyan Highlights (Begins at 2:31)
Ashley Thell
MSU vs. Angelo State Game 1 Highlights
Coley Ries
MSU vs. Angelo State Game 2 Highlights

2017 Minnesota State Season Records & Accomplishments

• 71 games played 
• 64 wins
• 28 consecutive wins
• 1,925 at bats
• 438 runs scored
• .342 batting average
• 658 hits
• 108 doubles
• 376 runs batted in
• 949 total bases 
• Won the 2017 NSIC Regular Season Championship with a 28-2 conference record (MSU's 5th regular season championship & most conference wins in a season).
• Won the 2017 NSIC Tournament Championship (MSU's third tournament championship, 4-0 with wins vs. Minot State (8-0, 5 innings), Minnesota Duluth (2-0) and Winona State (4-2 & 1-0).
• Went 3-0 at the NCAA Central Sub Region 2 Tournament as it defeated Augustana (8-4 & 4-3) and Central Oklahoma (3-0) at the MSU Softball Diamond.
• Defeated Harding in the NCAA Central Super Region Tournament to advance to the NCAA Championships for the third time in program history. MSU won game one (1-0, 10 innings) and game three (7-6) to advance to the NCAA Championships.
• Went 5-0 at the NCAA Championships to secure the program's first NCAA Championship. The Mavericks defeated Southern Indiana (5-0), Armstrong State (8-4), West Virginia Wesleyan (5-2) and Angelo State (5-1 & 5-1).

2017 Minnesota State Individual Season Records

• Freshman Amber Kral set single season records with 14 home runs and 66 runs batted in.
• Senior Ashley Thell drove in 64 runs, which were the second most in a season.
• Junior Jessica Meidl and sophomore McKenzie Paap each recorded a season record 100 hits.
• Junior Jessica Meidl posted a season record 71 runs scored, while sophomore McKenzie Paap recorded 70 runs.
• Junior Jessica Meidl recorded a season record with 154 total bases.
• Sophomore McKenzie Paap posted a season record 240 at bats.
• Samantha Buhmann, Carly Esselman, Cori Kennedy, Amber Kral, Jessica Meidl, Dana Mogren, McKenzie Paap, Alyssa Rickels and Ashley Thell all set a season record with 71 games played.  
• Senior pitcher Coley Ries set season records in appearances (52), wins (41) and strikeouts (476).

Alyssa Rickels
Alyssa Rickels batted .714 at the NCAA Championships with 10 hits in 14 at bats.
Coley Ries
Coley Ries went 5-0 at the NCAA Championships with a 1.20 ERA and 50 strikeouts
Carly Esselman
Carly Esselman batted .500 at the NCAA Championships and drove in five runs

2017 Minnesota State NCAA Team Season Rankings (Top-20)

• 1st in win percentage (.909).
• 2nd most wins by a team that won an NCAA National Championship (64).
• 2nd in ERA (1.37).
• 3rd in fielding percentage (.976).
• 9th in team batting average (.342).
• 16th in slugging percentage (.493).
• 19th in runs scored per game (6.17).

2017 Minnesota State NCAA Individual Season Rankings (Top-30)

• Coley Ries finished 1st in shutouts (17).
• Coley Ries finished 1st in strikeouts (476).
• Coley Ries finished 1st in victories (41).
• Coley Ries finished 2nd in strikeouts per seven innings (11.3).
• Coley Ries finished 2nd in hits per seven innings (3.59)
• Jessica Meidl and McKenzie Paap finished 3rd in hits (100).
• Jessica Meidl finished 4th in total bases (154).
• Coley Ries finished 5th in ERA (1.05).
• Amber Kral finished 7th in RBI (66).
• Ashley Thell finished 7th in sacrifice flies (6).
• Ashley Thell finished 10th in RBI (64).
• Coley Ries finished 11th in saves (5).
• Jessica Meidl finished 14th in on base percentage (.534).
• Amber Kral finished 17th in total bases (139).
• Jessica Meidl finished 19th in doubles (18).
• Jessica Meidl finished 23rd in batting average (.450).
• Amber Kral finished 24th in home runs (14).
• Libby Bemis finished 24th in victories (23).
• McKenzie Paap finished 30th in triples (5).

Jess Meidl
Jesscia Meidl batted .375 at the NCAA Championships and scored five runs
McKenzie Paap
McKenzie Paap batted .313 at the NCAA Championships and scored three runs
Ashley Thell
Ashley Thell drove in five runs at the NCAA Championships which were tied for the third most

2017 Minnesota State Career Rankings (Top-10)

• Ashley Thell finished her career 1st in games played with 240.
• Coley Ries finished her career 1st in appearances with 178.
• Coley Ries finished her career 1st in games started with 146.
• Coley Ries finished her career 1st in wins with 119.
• Coley Ries finished her career 1st in innings pitched with 999.1
• Coley Ries finished her career 1st in strikeouts with 1,481
• Coley Ries finished her career T-1st in saves with 9.
• Ashley Thell finished her career 2nd in doubles with 52.
• Jessica Meidl finished her junior season 2nd in stolen bases with 89.
• Coley Ries finished 2nd in complete games with 104.
• Coley Ries finished 2nd in shutouts with 39.
• Ashley Thell finished her career 3rd in RBI with 152.
• McKenzie Paap finished her sophomore season 3rd in stolen bases with 64.
• Jessica Meidl finished her junior season 4th in walks with 77.
• Ashley Thell finished her career T-4th in runs scored with 142.
• Ashley Thell finished her career 4th in total bases with 333.
• Coley Ries finished 4th in ERA with 1.60.
• Ashley Thell finished her career T-6th in at bats with 684.
• Jessica Meidl finished her junior season 6th in runs scored with 141.
• Dana Mogren finished her career 7th in games played with 224.
• Ashley Thell finished her career 7th in stolen bases with 56.
• Libby Bemis finished her junior season 7th in strikeouts with 406.
• Jessica Meidl finished her junior season 8th in RBI with 116.
• Jessica Meidl finished her junior season 8th in hits with 220.
• Jessica Meidl finished her junior season 8th in total bases with 318.
• Libby Bemis finished her junior season 8th in wins with 54.
• Libby Bemis finished her junior season 8th in shutouts with 13.
• Ashley Thell finished her career 9th in hits with 218.
• Samantha Buhmann finished her career T-10th in doubles with 36.
• Dana Mogren finished her career T-10th in stolen bases with 45.
• Libby Bemis finished her junior season 10th in games started with 79.
• Libby Bemis finished her junior season 10th in innings pitched with 469.2.

2017 Minnesota State NSIC Awards

• Libby Bemis (NSIC Pitcher of the Week, All-NSIC Second Team, NSIC All-Academic Team).
• Samantha Buhmann (NSIC All-Academic Team).
• Carly Esselman (All-NSIC Second Team).
• Cori Kennedy (NSIC Gold Glove Team).
• Amber Kral (NSIC Player of the Week, All-NSIC First Team).
• Jessica Meidl (NSIC Player of the Week, All-NSIC First Team, NSIC All-Tournament Team).
• Dana Mogren (NSIC All-Academic Team).
• McKenzie Paap (All-NSIC First Team, NSIC Gold Glove Team, NSIC All-Tournament Team).
• Alyssa Rickels (NSIC All-Academic Team).
• Coley Ries (5x NSIC Pitcher of the Week, All-NSIC First Team, NSIC Pitcher of the Year, NSIC All-Tournament Team, NSIC All-Academic Team).
• Ashley Thell (NSIC All-Academic Team, All-NSIC Second Team, NSIC All-Tournament Team).
• Lori Meyer (NSIC Coach of the Year).

Amber Kral
Amber Kral blasted a three run home run against Southern Indiana
Samantha Buhmann
Samantha Buhmann tallied five hits, including a home run against Southern Indiana
Dana Mogren
Dana Mogren recorded a hit and scored a run against Angelo State
Cori Kennedy
Cori Kennedy tallied a solo home run against Angelo State and caught every game at the NCAA Championships

2017 Minnesota State Regional Honors

• Amber Kral (NFCA All-Central Region Second Team, D2CCA All-Central Region Second Team).
• Jessica Meidl (NFCA All-Central Region First Team, D2CCA All-Central Region Second Team).
• McKenzie Paap (D2CCA All-Central Region Second Team).
• Coley Ries (NFCA All-Central Region First Team, D2CCA All-Central Region First Team).

2017 Minnesota State All-Americans/Players of the Year

• Coley Ries - NFCA Player of the Year
• Coley Ries - D2CCA Pitcher of the Year
• Coley Ries - NFCA All-American First Team, D2CCA All-American First Team, CoSIDA Academic All-American
• Jessica Meidl - NFCA All-American Second Team 

2017 Minnesota State NCAA All-Tournament Team

• Coley Ries (Most Outstanding Player)
• Carley Esselman
• Jessica Meidl
• McKenzie Paap
• Alyssa Rickels

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