? WEEKEND GAMES
•The Southwest Minnesota State University softball team (6-15, 1-5 NSIC) returns to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play with six games indoors over three days this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
•SMSU opens the stretch of games on Thursday taking on Concordia-St. Paul (17-11, 2-4 NSIC) with a doubleheader starting at 11:30 a.m. at the West St. Paul Dome in West St. Paul, Minnesota.
•On Friday, SMSU will face MSU Moorhead (9-13, 2-2 NSIC) in Aberdeen, South Dakota, with a doubleheader at 6 p.m. at the Presentation College Dome.
•SMSU concludes the week with a twinbill versus Northern State (14-12, 4-2 NSIC) on Saturday with a 2 p.m. start at the Presentation College Dome.
GAME COVERAGE
•Live statistics for all three games will be available at smsumustangs.com.
•Updates can also be found by following @smsusoftball on Twitter.
SERIES HISTORY
•SMSU?leads the all-time series versus CSP, 34-27, in a match-up that started in 1977.
•CSP has won three of the last four meetings, including 6-2 earlier this season on Feb. 23 at the West St. Paul Dome.
•SMSU holds a 74-32 all-time series advantage versus MSUM and has won the last 26 games in the series. The last MSUM victory came on May 5, 2006.
•SMSU defeated MSUM 10-2 earlier this season on Feb. 22.
•SMSU is 64-18 all-time versus NSU, but NSU has won seven of the last nine meetings since April 2, 2014.
HEAD COACH
•
Jamie Dunn is in her fifth season as head coach and has an overall record of 90-130-1, including 52-70-1 in conference play.
•SMSU had qualified for the NSIC Tournament the past three seasons.
MUSTANG NOTABLES
•SMSU is hitting .258 with eight home runs and 28 doubles.
•SMSU has an ERA?of 5.74 with 82 strikeouts in 131 2/3 innings.
•SMSU?has a .946 fielding percentage.
•SMSU is 3-1 in one-run games.
•SMSU is 6-0 when leading after five innings and 5-0 when leading after six innings.
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Emma Grote leads the team with a .338 batting average with three doubles.
•
Kaylee Hentges is hitting .333 with two home runs and a team-high 12 walks.
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Kali Tomlinson leads the team with six doubles and is also the team leader with three home runs.
•
Shelby Crank and
Athena Golling both have three victories this season.
SMSU PICKED EIGHTH IN NSIC POLL
•Southwest Minnesota State University was picked to finish eighth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• SMSU freshman,
Bailey Johnson, and junior pitcher,
Athena Golling, were named "Players to Watch" in the conference this season.
•Winona State was chosen as the preseason favorite.
MUSTANG SOFTBALL HISTORY
•Southwest Minnesota State is in its 47th season of softball and has an all-time record of 920-856-1 in 1,777 games.
•SMSU won conference championships in 1985, 1986, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and won NSIC?tournament championships in 1998 and 2007.
•SMSU made NCAA Tournament appearances in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
MORE MUSTANG STATS
•For career statistics and game-highs for each Mustang player go to SMSUmustangs.com/softballcareer.
NEXT UP
•Southwest Minnesota State is scheduled to play at Augustana in a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 11.
