ON DECK
The Southwest Minnesota State softball team makes its final weekend road trip of the season this weekend as they face Minnesota Duluth at Saturday beginning at 2 p.m., followed by a doubleheader at St. Cloud State on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. The Mustangs are coming off of a pair of losses to No. 11 Minnesota State on Tuesday afternoon.
LAST TIME OUT
SMSU suffered back-to-back shutouts against Minnesota State as the Mavericks' pitching proved to be too much for the Mustangs. MSU?came out on top, 8-0 in which the Mavericks' outhit SMSU, 10-2. The Mustangs were tied in a scoreless game with MSU in game two before two runs from the Mavericks in the top of the fifth that would prove to be the difference.
Shelby Crank took the loss in game one while
Alex O'Connor suffered the loss in game two despite striking out eight total including four of her first five batters and allowing just one earned run.
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 DULUTH:
Team Overview
•Overall record- 30-14
•Streak- WON 1
•NSIC record- 14-6
•Home record- 8-2
•Away record- 7-4
•Neutral record- 15-8
•TEAM BATTING AVG- .282
•TEAM OB %- .354
•TEAM SLG %- .416
•TEAM ERA- 2.37
•TEAM BATTING AVG AGAINST- .249
Team Leaders (min 50 ab, 10 ip)
•Batting AVG #9 Becky Smith (.361)
•OB %- #9 Becky Smith (.419)
•SLG %- #22 Lauren Oberle (.576)
•RBI- #9 Becky Smith, #22 Lauren Oberle (36)
•HR- #22 Lauren Oberle (7)
•SB- #5 Hannah Schmoll (29)
•ERA- #21 Sam Hartmann (2.11)
•K's- #21 Sam Hartmann (70)
•Wins- #20 Valerie Hohol (13)
MINNESOTA DULUTH Series History:
•Minnesota Duluth currently leads the all-time series 35-67
•The Bulldogs hold an 18-33 lead in conference games
•Minnesota Duluth defeated SMSU, 5-4 in last season's conference tournament
•The two teams split last season's regular season doubleheader with SMSU winning game one, 3-1 and UMD winning game two, 5-1
•SMSU has won three of the last five games overall between the two
•SMSU snapped a nine-game losing streak to UMD?with a 3-2 win in 2015
•Full series history on Page 9
SCOUTING ST. CLOUD STATE:
Team Overview
•Overall record- 27-19
•Streak- WON 2
•NSIC record- 11-9
•Home record- 14-4
•Away record- 5-8
•Neutral record- 8-7
•TEAM BATTING AVG- .300
•TEAM OB %- .377
•TEAM SLG %- .414
•TEAM ERA- 3.75
•TEAM BATTING AVG AGAINST- .285
Team Leaders (min 60 ab, 20 ip)
•Batting AVG #14 Alyssa Coletto (.382)
•OB %- #14 Alyssa Coletto (.464)
•SLG %- #14 Alyssa Coletto (.580)
•RBI- #18 Jessica Goerger (35)
•HR- #17 Jalden Lund (6)
•SB- #13 Abby Bunnell (30)
•ERA- #12 Megan Hedstrom (3.19)
•K's- #12 Megan Hedstrom (87)
•Wins- #12 Megan Hedstrom (13)
ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES HISTORY:
•SCSU leads the all-time series 47-44-1
•SMSU won the first ever meeting, 8-7 back in 1973 in the Mustangs' second season of softball
•SMSU is 17-14-1 all-time in games played in Marshall
•The Mustangs are 19-16 all-time on the road in St. Cloud
•SMSU?has won 11 of the last 13 games with one loss and one tie
•The Mustangs swept last season's doubleheader with a 6-1 win followed by an 8-0 win in game two
•Full series history on Page 9
SCOUTING SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE:
Team Overview
•Overall record- 17-9
•Streak- LOST 2
•NSIC record- 8-12
•Home record- 6-8
•Away record- 4-8
•Neutral record- 7-3
•TEAM BATTING AVG- .277
•TEAM OB %- .339
•TEAM SLG %- .390
•TEAM ERA- 3.57
•TEAM BATTING AVG AGAINST- .279
Team Leaders (min 60 ab, 20 ip)
•Batting AVG #9
Sam Flack (.324)
•OB %- #9
Sam Flack (.430)
•SLG %- #14
Taylor Koloc (.543)
•RBI- #14
Taylor Koloc (19)
•HR- #14
Taylor Koloc (5)
•SB- #14
Taylor Koloc (13)
•ERA- #21
Alex O'Connor (2.97)
•K's- #21
Alex O'Connor (95)
•Wins- #21
Alex O'Connor (8)
O'CONNOR SURPASSES 500 STRIKEOUTS
Alex O'Connor entered last 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).
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, and .304 with runners in scoring position.
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 908-837-1. The Mustangs own an all-time conference mark of 342-212.
