ON DECK
The Southwest Minnesota State softball team will play its final road doubleheader of the year this Wednesday as it travels to play at Wayne State beginning at 2 p.m. The Mustangs are coming off of a weekend in which it split a pair of NSIC doubleheaders at Minnesota Duluth and at St. Cloud State. SMSU currently sits in 11th place in the NSIC standings, three spots out of qualifying for this year's conference tournament.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Coming off of a pair of home losses last week, the Mustangs opened the weekend with their fourth shutout of the year in a 2-0 win over Minnesota Duluth.  Alex O'Connor gave up just five hits and struck out seven in the complete game win to begin the doubleheader. UMD came back to split the doubleheader with a 3-2 win in game two. SMSU began its second doubleheader of the weekend with an 8-7 win in extra innings over St. Cloud State. After giving up a 3-0 lead, allowing three runs in the bottom of the sixth, SMSU came back with four in the top of the seventh only to see its 7-3 lead slip away to a game tying grand slam in the bottom of the seventh. The Mustangs scored one in the top of the eighth which was enough to give SMSU the extra innings win. SCSU won game two, 5-0 to end the doubleheader in a split.
 
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 WAYNE STATE:
            Team Overview
            •Overall record-          11-35
            •Streak-          LOST 2
            •NSIC record-  5-17
            •Home record-            2-6
            •Away record-            3-16
            •Neutral record-         6-13
            •TEAM BATTING AVG-           .268
            •TEAM OB %-             .328
            •TEAM SLG %-            .372
            •TEAM ERA-   5.94
            •TEAM BATTING AVG AGAINST-       .380
 
            Team Leaders (min 50 ab, 10 ip)
            •Batting AVG #18 Monique Alyea (.341)
            •OB %-                        #22 Melanie Alyea (.392)
            •SLG %-          #12 Katelyn Wobken (.529)
            •RBI-               #22 Melanie Alyea (22)
            •HR-                #22 Melanie Alyea (5)
            •SB-                #12 Katelyn Wobken (13)      
            •ERA-              #21 Nataliah Hopkins (4.98)
            •K's-                #21 Nataliah Hopkins (64)
            •Wins-             #21 Nataliah Hopkins (9)
 
WAYNE STATE SERIES HISTORY:
            •SMSU leads the all-time series 25-24
            •The Mustangs are 7-10 all-time in road games at Wayne State
            •SMSU is 13-8 in home vs. Wayne State
            •Wayne State won the first ever meeting between the two teams, 2-0 back in the 1986 season
            •The two teams split last season's doubleheader as SMSU won game one 4-3 followed by a 5-2 win for WSC
            •WSC has won six of the last seven games overall
            •Full series history on Page 9
           
 
SCOUTING SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE:
            Team Overview
            •Overall record-          19-21
            •Streak-          LOST 1
            •NSIC record-  10-14
            •Home record-            6-8
            •Away record-            6-10
            •Neutral record-         7-3
            •TEAM BATTING AVG-           .280
            •TEAM OB %-             .343
            •TEAM SLG %-            .392
            •TEAM ERA-   3.53
            •TEAM BATTING AVG AGAINST-       .281
 
            Team Leaders (min 50 ab, 20 ip)
            •Batting AVG  #9 Sam Flack (.327)
            •OB %-                        #9 Sam Flack (.433)
            •SLG %-          #14 Taylor Koloc (.523)
            •RBI-               #14 Taylor Koloc (19)
            •HR-                #14 Taylor Koloc (5)
            •SB-                #14 Taylor Koloc (13) 
            •ERA-              #21 Alex O'Connor (2.84)
            •K's-                #21 Alex O'Connor (110)
            •Wins-             #21 Alex O'Connor (10)
 
O'CONNOR SURPASSES 500 STRIKEOUTS
Alex O'Connor entered the Mustangs' doubleheader at Minot State just 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 one win from moving into second place in school history for all-time wins, currently ranks fourth in school history in strikeouts per seven innings (5.43), and ranks fourth in lowest career opponent batting average (.284).
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UNDER PRESSURE
The Mustangs' scoring burts have come in large part to their success hitting with runners on base. SMSU is hitting: .483 as a team (14 of 29) with the bases loaded, .446 with runners on third and less than two outs, and .294 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 14 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 13-1 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 910-839-1. The Mustangs own an all-time conference mark of 344-214­­.
 
HEAD COACH
Jamie Dunn is in her fourth season as head coach at Southwest Minnesota State University and has compiled a 80-113-1 overall record and a 45-60-1 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.