ON DECK
The Southwest Minnesota State softball team returns home this week to begin a stretch of six straight home games. The Mustangs will host Concordia-St. Paul on Tuesday afternoon in a doubleheader that begins at 2 p.m. SMSU is coming off of a weekend in which they fell in both games at Winona State on Saturday before rebounding with a doubleheader sweep of last season's conference tournament champions, Upper Iowa on Sunday afternoon.
 
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 CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL:
            Team Overview
            •Overall record- 10-17
            •Streak- LOST 2
            •Home record- 2-2
            •Away record- 0-2
            •Neutral record- 8-13
            •TEAM BATTING AVG- .314
            •TEAM OB %- .371
            •TEAM SLG %- .454
            •TEAM ERA- 4.34
            •TEAM BATTING AVG AGAINST- .317
           
            Team Leaders
            •Batting AVG #13 Nicole Thompson (.418)
            •OB %-            #13 Nicole Thompson (.446)
            •SLG %-          #2 Sarah Kivisto (.565)
            •RBI-               #19 Haley Schanks (19)
            •HR-                #19 Haley Schanks (4)
            •SB-                #13 Nicole Thompson (8)      
            •ERA (min 10 ip)-       #24 Samantha Sullivan (3.77)
            •K's-                #24 Samantha Sullivan (45)
            •Wins- #24 Samantha Sullivan, #17 Linzy Heim(5)
 
CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL SERIES HISTORY:
            •SMSU first played Concordia-St. Paul in the 1977 season losing the first two games before winning the next three
            •SMSU leads the all-time series 33-25
            •SMSU has won three of the last five meetings
            •CSP leads the series in games played in Marshall holding a 10-9 record on the road vs. SMSU
            •SMSU is 16-11 all-time on the road at Concordia-St. Paul
            •The two teams have split the last seven doubleheaders
            •CSP was the last team to sweep a doubleheader which came in St. Paul back in 2010
            •Full series history on Page 9
 
SCOUTING SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE:
            Team Overview
            •Overall record- 12-10
            •Streak- WON 2
            •Home record- 3-1
            •Away record- 2-6
            •Neutral record- 7-3
            •TEAM BATTING AVG- .278
            •TEAM OB %- .333
            •TEAM SLG %- .415
            •TEAM ERA- 3.07
            •TEAM BATTING AVG AGAINST- .253
 
            Team Leaders
            •Batting AVG  #27 Tori Brooks (.359)
            •OB %- #9 Sam Flack (.382)
            •SLG %- #14 Taylor Koloc (.608)
            •RBI- #7 Abbie Decker (12)
            •HR- #14 Taylor Koloc (4)
            •SB- #14 Taylor Koloc (7)   
            •ERA- #21 Alex O'Connor (2.52)
            •K's-  #21 Alex O'Connor (53)
            •Wins- #21 Alex O'Connor (5)

HEAD COACH
Jamie Dunn is in her fourth season as head coach at Southwest Minnesota State University and has compiled a 73-102-1 overall record and a 38-49-1 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.
 
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 903-828-1. The Mustangs own an all-time conference mark of 337-203.
 
MUSTANGS AT HOME
Southwest Minnesota State is 278-177-1 since 1973 when playing in Marshall. The Mustangs have compiled a .611 winning percentage in 42 years of playing games at home. SMSU's first year of play was 1972, but SMSU did not play a game at home during its inaugural season.
 
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.
 
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
After winning game one and trailing in game two vs. Upper Iowa on Sunday, SMSU exploded for six runs in the third inning. The offense came with the help of back-to-back home runs from Mackenzie Clouse and Karmann Carroll. It was the first pair of back-to-back homers in a game for SMSU since 2011.
 
SPREADING THE WEALTH
SMSU has seen its offense come from all across the top of its lineup this season as there is a different team leader in batting average (Tori Brooks, .359), slugging percentage (Taylor Koloc, .608), on base percentage (Sam Flack, .382) and runs batted in (Abbie Decker, 12).
 
MORE MUSTANG STATS
For career statistics and game-highs for each Mustang player go to smsumustangs.com/softballcareer.