PREVIEWING THIS WEEKEND
•The Southwest Minnesota State University softball team will officially begin its 50^th season this Saturday and Sunday with four non-conference games at the St. Cloud State Kelly Laas Invite inside the SCSU Dome.
•SMSU will open play on Saturday facing Northwestern College (Iowa) at 5 p.m. followed by a 7 p.m. game versus Viterbo University (Wis.).
•SMSU continues action on Sunday with a 9 a.m. doubleheader versus Truman State University (Mo.).
•SMSU is scheduled to play 44 regular season games, including a 30-game Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schedule starting on March 30.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live video and stats four all four games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
            TICKET POLICY
• St. Cloud State is allowing only family members of the home and visiting teams to attend sporting events. The Kelly Laas Tournament will NOT be open to public attendance and capacity will be capped at 150 spectators per game.
•Ticket allocations will be established based upon conference guidelines and communicated with home and visiting teams. Ticket pass lists will be managed by the SCSU ticket office and attendance will be reviewed per facility and event. There will be no admissions charge for those on the pass list. All communications and protocols will be sent from the University to attending family members at least 24 hours prior to competition.
 
SMSU HEAD COACH
•Bailey Bouman is in her third season as head coach with an overall record of 28-33, including 13-17 in NSIC play.
•The 11th head coach in program history, Bouman was named to the position on Aug. 8, 2019.
•SMSU finished 19-26 during her first season in 2019 and qualified for the NSIC Tournament.
•Bouman was an assistant coach with the SMSU women's basketball program from 2015-17 and was also an assistant women's basketball coach at Dordt College (Iowa) before returning to SMSU.
•Bouman is a 2014 graduate of the University of Sioux Falls where she played both basketball and softball for the Cougars.
 
            2021 SMSU TEAM PREVIEW
•The 2021 Mustangs softball team returns a strong nucleus from a team that compiled a 9-7 record last season before the season was shut down in mid-March. SMSU returns every starter from last season and has a total of 12 letter winners returning.
•The SMSU offense will be led by several veterans, who were having outstanding 2020 seasons before having to be shutdown.
•Junior outfielder Bailey Johnson batted .438 with a team-high nine doubles and three home runs last season. She was a 2019 All-NSIC honoree after batting .341 with 11 doubles.
•Senior third baseman Kali Tomlinson hit .411 with a team-high 23 hits and added six doubles and three home runs.
•Redshirt freshman second baseman Jillian Noel clubbed seven doubles and batted .375 during her rookie season.
•Sophomore outfielder Lileya Kebos also had a strong season batting .340 with 12 RBIs.
•Senior outfielder Emma Grote batted .322 and scored 15 runs a year ago and has played in 137 career games.
•Senior first baseman Kaylee Hentges hit .318 with three doubles last season.
•Junior shortstop Madysson Schliinz also hit over .300 last season and led the team with two triples.
•In the circle, senior Megan Cull leads the way after a team-low 2.28 ERA and a team-high 21 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings last season. She finished 3-1 with one save in nine appearances.
•Redshirt freshman Allison Christians fired a team-high four complete games in 2020 and finished 4-2 with a 2.94 ERA.
•Sophomore Shelby Bloemendaal also returns after leading the team with 33 innings pitched in 2020.
 
            GROTE EARNS 2020 ACADEMIC HONOR
•Senior Emma Grote was named CoSIDA Academic All-District for the second straight season following the 2020 season.
 
            SMSU PICKED 10^TH IN NSIC POLL
•Southwest Minnesota State University was picked to finish 10th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•Mustang senior Megan Cull was named a "Pitcher to Watch", while junior outfielder Bailey Johnson was named a "Player to Watch" in the NSIC this spring.
 
ABOUT NORTHWESTERN
•Northwestern (Iowa), a member of NAIA and competes in the Great Plains Athletic Conference, is 2-0 on the season after sweeping Viterbo, 4-2 and 14-2 last Saturday in Austin, Minn.
•NWC will play St. Cloud State twice and Minnesota Crookston before taking on SMSU.
•NWC was picked to finish sixth in the 12-team GPAC.
•The Red Raiders were 14-6 in 2020 before the season was canceled.
 
ABOUT VITERBO
•Viterbo (Wis.) is a member of NAIA and competes in the North Star Athletic Association.
•The V-Hawks lost twice last weekend to Northwestern and will face Minnesota Crookston prior to taking on SMSU.
•Viterbo was 3-9 in the shortened 2002 season and was picked to finish fifth in the eight-team NSAA.
 
ABOUT TRUMAN STATE
•Truman State (Mo.) is NCAA Division II and competes in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
•TSU, which finished 5-7 in the 2020, was selected to place ninth in the 15-team GLVC.
•TSU will play Minnesota Crookston and St. Cloud State in doubleheaders before facing SMSU on Sunday.
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. NORTHWESTERN
•SMSU and Northwestern meet for the 25^th time with NWC holding a 14-10 advantage.
•The two teams last played in 2005, splitting a twinbill in Marshall.
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. VITERBO
•SMSU and Viterbo will be meeting for the first time ever on Saturday night.
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. TRUMAN STATE
•SMSU and TSU meet for the 19^th and 20^th time on Sunday with TSU leading 14-4.
•TSU won the last meeting, 9-0, on March 8, 2010, in Kissimmee, Fla.
•SMSU won three of four at TSU on March 20-21, 2008.
 
            SEASON OPENERS
•SMSU is 29-20 all-time in season openers and is 8-3 in openers since the 2010 season.
 
            MUSTANG HISTORY
•Southwest Minnesota State is in its 50^th season of softball in 2021.
•SMSU has played 1,861 games compiling an all-time record of 960-900-1.
•SSMSU has won 10 NSIC regular season championships, two NSIC Tournament titles and has played in four NCAA Tournaments.