PREVIEWING FRIDAY
•The Southwest Minnesota State University softball team (7-5) concludes its regular season non-conference schedule this Friday with a doubleheader versus the University of Mary (1-10) inside Presentation College Dome in Aberdeen, S.D., with first pitch slated for 11 a.m.
•This will be SMSU's second trip to the PC Dome this season following a split with Northern State on March 7.
•UMary lost a pair of games to Minnesota Duluth on Wednesday in a non-conference doubleheader in Minot, N.D.
•Following Friday's games, SMSU will open its 30-game conference schedule on Tuesday, March 30, at Sioux Falls.  
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live video and stats for both games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
            ABOUT UMARY
•UMary, picked 11^th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' poll, is 1-10 this season following Wednesday's games versus UMD.
•UMary is led by Mariah Sanchez, who is batting .368 with a team-high 14 hits.
•Rachael Laetsch is hitting .269 with two home runs and five RBIs
•UMary is batting .246 and averaging 2.3 runs per game, while the pitching staff has a 6.40 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings.
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. UMARY
•SMSU and UMary have meet 30 times since the 1990 season with SMSU holding a 16-14 all-time series advantage.
•SMSU leads the series 7-5 since the 2013 season.
•The two clubs have split the previous four doubleheaders.
 
            SMSU HEAD COACH
•Bailey Bouman is in her third season as head coach with an overall record of 35-38, 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 looks to rebound this Friday after losing a pair of games at undefeated St. Cloud State last Friday afternoon. SMSU was held to five total hits and struck out 15 times in the two games.  
•In the opener, Kali Tomlinson had two hits and belted a solo home run in SMSU's 7-3 loss. Jillian Noel had the only other hit for the Mustangs in the game.
•Freshman Tory Villotta made her collegiate debut in the circle for the Mustangs and pitched the first three innings allowing six runs (three earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts.
•In game two, Bailey Johnson and Lileya Kebos had the only two hits for SMSU.
•Shelby Bloemendaal pitched the first five innings and gave up six runs (five earned) on 13 hits.
 
            SMSU SEASON NUMERS
•Overall, through 12 games, SMSU is averaging 5.5 runs per game, batting .303 with 20 doubles, six triples and six home runs.
•The SMSU pitching staff has a 3.93 ERA in 76 2/3 innings with 48 strikeouts.
•Lileya Kebos is batting a team-high .447 with a team-high six doubles and a team-high three triples.
•Emma Grote is hitting .405 and is tied for the team lead with Kebos with 17 base hits.
•Kali Tomlinson is batting .341 with three home runs and team-high 14 RBIs.
•Bailey Johnson is hitting .350 with two home runs and 11 RBIs.
•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.
•Shelby Bloemendaal is 2-2 in six starts tossing a team-high 32 1/3 innings with a 4.98 ERA.
 
            MUSTANGS IN THE NCAA STATS
•In the latest NCAA statistics (March 16), SMSU ranks 15th in triples (6), 85^th in batting average (.303) and 83^rd in scoring (5.5).
•Lileya Kebos is 26^th in doubles with six.  
 
          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. (.645) and on-base pct. (.477), third in both batting average (.381) 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. (.581), fourth in home runs (21), tied for fifth in doubles (33), tied for sixth in RBIs (94), eighth in batting average (.352), 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 13-15 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 1,873 games compiling an all-time record of 967-905-1.
•SMSU has won 10 NSIC regular season championships, two NSIC Tournament titles and has played in four NCAA Tournaments.