ON DECK
The Southwest Minnesota State softball team returns home to face first place Minnesota State Mankato beginning on Tuesday at 2 p.m. The Mustangs are coming off a road trip to North Dakota this past weekend in which SMSU split doubleheaders at U-Mary and Minot State. SMSU currently sits in 10th place, two spots out of the top eight and a spot in the NSIC Tournament.
LAST TIME OUT
SMSU opened its weekend with a 4-1 win over U-Mary last Friday afternoon. The Mustangs were held scoreless through four innings in game two however as the Marauders forced the split with a complete game effort from their starting pitcher in a 5-2 win. The Mustangs fell behind early to start the day at Minot State as SMSU watched the Beavers pile up five runs in the first followed by six in the second as Minot State later won by run rule, 14-5. SMSU bounced back in game two however overcoming an early 5-1 deficit to win 9-6 on a four-run third inning and a two-out grand slam in the fifth.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Live statistics will be available for all games at smsumustangs.com/softballlive, while updates can also be found by following @smsusoftball on Twitter. For all other games, visit smsumustangs.com/SBschedule for more information.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA STATE:
Team Overview
•Overall record- 38-6
•Streak- WON 8
•NSIC record- 16-2
•Home record- 12-0
•Away record- 5-2
•Neutral record- 21-4
•TEAM BATTING AVG- .345
•TEAM OB %- .408
•TEAM SLG %- .515
•TEAM ERA- 1.41
•TEAM BATTING AVG AGAINST- .173
Team Leaders (min 50 ab, 10 ip)
•Batting AVG #20 Jess Meidl (.440)
•OB %- #20 Jess Meidl (.534)
•SLG %- #20 Jess Meidl (.724)
•RBI- #17 Ashley Thell (44)
•HR- #7 Amber Kral (11)
•SB- #4 McKenzie Paap (32)
•ERA- #1 Coley Ries (0.86)
•K's- #1 Coley Ries (245)
•Wins- #1 Coley Ries (20)
MINNESOTA STATE Series History:
•SMSU and Minnesota State first played each other during the 1975 season
•Minnesota State has won nine straight including a 6-2 win in last season's conference tournament
•MSU swept last season's regular season doubleheader with 5-0 and 3-2 wins in Mankato
•The last win for SMSU was an 8-7 win in Marshall during the 2013 season
•SMSU's last doubleheader sweep over Minnesota State came back in 2009
•SMSU is 11-15 all-time in games played in Marshall but 10-29 all-time on the road against the Mavericks
SCOUTING SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE:
Team Overview
•Overall record- 17-17
•Streak- WON 1
•NSIC record- 8-10
•Home record- 6-6
•Away record- 4-8
•Neutral record- 7-3
•TEAM BATTING AVG- .283
•TEAM OB %- .345
•TEAM SLG %- .400
•TEAM ERA- 3.62
•TEAM BATTING AVG AGAINST- .276
Team Leaders (min 50 ab, 10 ip)
•Batting AVG #27 Tori Brooks, #14
Taylor Koloc (.324)
•OB %- #9
Sam Flack (.422)
•SLG %- #14
Taylor Koloc (.559)
•RBI- #14
Taylor Koloc (19)
•HR- #14
Taylor Koloc (5)
•SB- #14
Taylor Koloc (12)
•ERA- #21
Alex O'Connor (3.09)
•K's- #21
Alex O'Connor (88)
•Wins- #21
Alex O'Connor (8)
O'CONNOR SURPASSES 500 STRIKEOUTS
Alex O'Connor entered Saturday's doubleheader at Minot State just one shy of striking out her 500th career batter and surpassed the milestone in the bottom of the first inning with strikeouts for the second and third outs of the game. O'Connor is just the second pitcher to pass the 500 strikeout milestone. O'Connor is just four wins from moving into second place in school history for all-time wins and currently ranks fourth in school history in strikeouts per seven innings (5.38).
MUSTANGS STREAKING
Sam Flack enters Tuesday's doubleheader riding a 10-game hit streak, the longest of any Mustang player so far this season. Tori Brooks enters the week in the midst of 14 consecutive games reaching base.
Taylor Koloc has a four-game hit streak heating up as she leads the Mustangs in multi-hit games (10).
UNDER PRESSURE
The Mustangs' scoring burts have come in large part to their success hitting with runners on base. SMSU is hitting: .520 as a team (13 of 25) with the bases loaded, .478 with runners on third and less than two outs, .312 with runners in scoring position, and .306 overall with runners on base.
SCORING BURSTS
SMSU has pushed runs across the plate in bunches this season. The Mustangs have scored four or more runs in a single inning in 13 games this season including seven times in NSIC play. SMSU has scored six or more runs in a single inning in four games this year. The Mustangs are 12-1 this year when scoring six or more runs.
HISTORY LESSON
Southwest Minnesota State is in its 46th season of softball in 2017. SMSU began play in the 1972 season, five years after the school opened its doors. SMSU owns an all-time record of 908-835-1. The Mustangs own an all-time conference mark of 342-210.
HEAD COACH
Jamie Dunn is in her fourth season as head coach at Southwest Minnesota State University and has compiled a 78-109-1 overall record and a 43-56-1 in the NSIC. Prior to SMSU, Dunn spent the 2013 season as assistant coach at NCAA Division II Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colo., and three seasons as head coach at Fruita Monument High School. Dunn's complete bio is found on page 3.
SMSU PICKED 10TH IN NSIC POLL
Southwest Minnesota State University was picked to finish 10th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Minnesota State was chosen as the unanimous preseason favorite earning 15 first place votes. SMSU junior infielder,
Sam Flack, and senior pitcher,
Alex O'Connor, were named "Players to Watch" in the conference this season.
MORE MUSTANG STATS
For career statistics and game-highs for each Mustang player go to smsumustangs.com/softballcareer.
