PREVIEWING FRIDAY
•The Southwest Minnesota State University softball team (7-3) continues non-conference play on Friday with a doubleheader versus St. Cloud State University (8-0) inside the Husky Dome in St. Cloud, Minn., with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
•This will be SMSU's third trip to the Husky Dome this season and is a perfect 6-0 in the facility.
•Following Friday's games, SMSU will have its final non-conference games prior to league play starting with a doubleheader versus UMary in Aberdeen, S.D. on March 19.
•SMSU will open conference play on Tuesday, March 30, at Sioux Falls.  
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live video and stats for both games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
ABOUT ST. CLOUD STATE
•St. Cloud State, picked fourth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' poll, is 8-0 this season.
•SCSU is led by Jasmin Estrada and Megan Conrads, who are both batting .571 with a combined five doubles and three home runs.
•SCSU is batting .435 and averaging 9.7 runs per game, while the pitching staff has a 1.37 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 51 innings.
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. ST. CLOUD STATE
•SMSU and SCSU have meet 99 times since the 1973 season with SCSU holding a 52-46-1 all-time series advantage.
•SCSU has won five of the last six games, including sweeping a twinbill in the last meeting during the 2019 season in St. Cloud.
•From 2011 to 2017, SMSU held a 12-1-1 advantage in the series.
•SMSU's last victory in the series came on May 4, 2018, at the NSIC Tournament.
 
SMSU HEAD COACH
•Bailey Bouman is in her third season as head coach with an overall record of 35-36, 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.
 
            SMSU DIAMOND NOTES
•SMSU is coming off a doubleheader split versus Northern State last Sunday afternoon inside the Presentation Dome in Aberdeen, S.D.
•In the opener, NSU scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh to secure a 2-1 victory. Mustang pitcher Megan Cull tossed the complete allowing two runs on six hits with six strikeouts.
•SMSU's lone run in the game occurred in the first inning on an RBI single by Lileya Kebos.
•In game two, the SMSU offensive exploded with 11 hits in earning an 11-3 run-rule victory. Kali Tomlinson and Madison Krog each belted three-run homers in the victory.
•Tomlinson finished the game 3 for 3 with three runs scored and set a career-high with five RBIs.
•Shelby Bloemendaal earned the win in the circle allowing three runs on seven hits in five innings.
 
            SMSU SEASON NUMERS
•Overall, through 10 games, SMSU is averaging 6.3 runs per game, batting .337 with 19 doubles, six triples and five home runs.
•The SMSU pitching staff has a 3.79 ERA in 64 2/3 innings with 40 strikeouts.
•Lileya Kebos is batting a team-high .500 with six doubles and three triples.
•Emma Grote is hitting .472 and leads the club with 17 base hits.
•Kali Tomlinson is batting .343 with two home runs and team-high 13 RBIs.
•Bailey Johnson is hitting .382 with two home runs, while driving in 11 runs.
•Megan Cull has appeared in seven games in the circle and is 4-1 with one save. She has a 1.96 ERA in 25 innings with 19 strikeouts.
 
            MUSTANGS IN THE NCAA STATS
•In the latest NCAA statistics (March 10), SMSU ranks seventh in triples (6), 28^th in batting average (.337) and 41^st in scoring (6.3).
 
          MORE MUSTANG STATS
•For career statistics and game-highs for each Mustang player go to SMSUmustangs.com/softballcareer.
 
            MUSTANGS IN THE CAREER RECORD BOOK
•Entering play on Friday, Bailey Johnson ranks first in team history in slugging pct. (.654) and on-base pct. (.481), third in both batting average (.385) and doubles (38), tied for ninth in home runs (12) and tied for 10^th in walks (54).
•Johnson is one double behind Leslie Oberaigner (1989-92) for second all-time and is four shy of Amanda Burkhart's (2006-09) record of 42.
•Kali Tomlinson ranks fourth in slugging pct. (.577), tied for fourth in home runs (20), tied for fifth in doubles (33), eighth in batting average (.352), eighth in RBIs (93) and ninth in total bases (243).
•Emma Grote is tied for ninth in runs scored (100), 11^th in hits (163) and 12^th in stolen bases (27).
•Megan Cull ranks eighth in strikeouts (216) and ninth in appearances (78).
 
            GROTE EARNS 2020 ACADEMIC HONOR
•Senior Emma Grote was named CoSIDA Academic All-District for the second straight season following the 2020 season.
 
            NSIC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO ROCHESTER
•The 2021 NSIC Tournament will be held in May 6-8 in Rochester, Minn., at the RYFSA Complex.
•The top 10 teams in the final regular season standings will qualify for the tournament with the champion earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
            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.
 
            MUSTANG HISTORY
•Southwest Minnesota State is in its 50^th season of softball in 2021.
•SMSU has played 1,871 games compiling an all-time record of 967-903-1.
•SMSU has won 10 NSIC regular season championships, two NSIC Tournament titles and has played in four NCAA Tournaments.