PREVIEWING SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
•The Southwest Minnesota State University softball team (23-12, 14-8 NSIC) will wrap up home play with doubleheaders against St. Cloud State (20-12, 9-9 NSIC) on Saturday and Minnesota Duluth (25-11, 15-7 NSIC) on Sunday.  Saturday's doubleheader will start at 1 p.m. and Sunday's will start at noon both taking place in Marshall at Mustang Field. 
•The following weekend, SMSU will end its regular season on the road facing Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live video and stats for all four games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com. 
 
            ABOUT ST. CLOUD STATE
•St. Cloud State, picked fourth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' poll, is 20-12, 9-9 NSIC this season going into Saturday's doubleheader. 
•SCSU swept Upper Iowa on Sunday winning game one 8-4 and shutting out the Peacocks 15-0 in five innings in game two. 
•SCSU is led by Raven Vanden Langenberg, who is batting .465 with a team-high 47 hits, and eight doubles, along with recording 24 RBIs.
•Brooke Bowlin is hitting .454 leading her team in runs with 35, four triples and 23 stolen bases.
•SCSU is batting .356 and averaging 6.8 runs per game, while the pitching staff has a 2.79 ERA with 190 strikeouts in 208 1/3 innings.
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. ST. CLOUD STATE
•SMSU and SCSU have meet 101 times since the 1973 season with the Huskies leading 54-46-1 in the series.
•SMSU played SCSU earlier this season being swept in a non-conference matchup. In the 2019 season SMSU was also swept by SCSU.
•The last victory against the Huskies came on May 4^th, 2018, where the Mustangs won 8-4 in the NSIC tournament.
 
            ABOUT MINNESOTA DULUTH
•Minnesota Duluth, also picked fourth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' poll, is 25-11, 15-7 NSIC this season going into Saturday's doubleheader against Sioux Falls. 
•UMD split in a doubleheader on Sunday against Winona State. UMD lost game one 8-3 but would take game two with a score of 4-2. 
•UMD is led by Lauren Oberie, who is batting .413 with a team-high 43 hits, 46 runs, and 14 doubles.
•Jordyn Thomas is hitting .368 leading her team with 35 RBIs and has recorded 39 hits.
•UMD is batting .319 and averaging 6.3 runs per game, while the pitching staff has a 3.03 ERA with 213 strikeouts in 202 innings. 
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. MINNESOTA DULUTH
•  SMSU and UMD have met 111 times since the 1977 season with the Bulldogs leading 73-38 in the series.
• SMSU and UMD haven't played each other in almost two years with the last meet-up dating back to the 2019 NSIC Tournament in Rochester where UMD won 8-3.
• The Bulldogs and Mustangs have split the two matchups before the 2019 NSIC Tournament.
 
            SMSU HEAD COACH
•Bailey Bouman  is in her third season as head coach with an overall record of 51-46, including 27-25 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 continue its success after sweeping University of Mary on Monday and splitting with Minot State on Saturday, winning 9-8 in eight innings and 11-9 against UMary. The Mustangs would take game one 7-6 but would fall in game two 3-2 against MISU. 
•Jillian Noel would hit a walk off single in game one against the Beavers after her team had rallied five runs to tie the game in the same inning. 
•In game two, SMSU would get on the scoreboard in the fifth inning cutting MISU's lead to one. The Mustangs would threaten in the seventh but the Beavers pitcher, Trinity Valentine, would secure the save and the win with a strikeout.  
•In game one against University of Mary, Kali Tomlinson would hit a three-run homer to go into extra innings. Lileya Kebos would hit a pop-up to second with bases loaded and Emma Grote would beat the throw home and record the winning score in game one. both Madysson Schliinz would earn career high hits with four. 
•In game two SMSU would find its way onto the scoreboard with seven runs in the second inning. The Marauders threatened in the top of the seventh bringing home two runners cutting the deficit to two but couldn't capitalize further with a ground out to second base. Madison Krog would also break her career hits record with four in game two. 
 
            SMSU SEASON NUMERS
•Through 36 games, SMSU is averaging 5.2 runs per game, batting .315 with 57 doubles, 10 triples and 19 home runs.
•The SMSU pitching staff has a 3.43 ERA in 235 innings with 1285 strikeouts. 
•Emma Grote is batting a team-high .419 and is tied with Kali Tomlinson with 52 base hits. 
•Kali Tomlinson is hitting .409 and leads the team in runs (35), RBIs (38), home runs (10) and doubles (14). 
•Lileya Kebos is hitting .355 leading the team in triples with five and eight stolen bases. 
•Bailey Johnson is batting .350 with 11 doubles and 21 RBIs. She also is the program's all-time doubles leader with 45. 
•Megan Cull has appeared in 20 games in the circle and is 10-3 with one save. She has a 2.81 ERA pitching 87 1/3 innings and holding a team-high 79 strikeouts. 
•Shelby Bloemendaal is 7-6 in 16 starts tossing a team-high 91 with a 4.08 ERA. 
•Allison Christians has appeared in 18 games with a 6-2 record and three saves. She has a 2.81 ERA while pitching 52 1/3 innings. 
 
            MUSTANGS IN THE NCAA STATS
•In the latest NCAA statistics (April 28), SMSU ranks 32^nd nationally in triples, 34^th in hits, 45^th in doubles, 56^th in batting average, 62^nd in total runs and 76^th in scoring. 
•Lileya Kebos is 7^th in triples with five.  
•Kali Tomlinson is 9^th in doubles with 14, 13^th in total bases with 98, 21^st in hits with 52, 37^th in home runs, and 48^th in slugging pct. with .772.  
•Emma Grote is 21^st in hits tied with Tomlinson, and 90^th in batting average.
 
          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 Saturday, Bailey Johnson ranks first in team history in doubles (45), second in slugging pct. (.620) on-base pct. (.470), and batting average (.375), tied for eighth in home runs (14), tied for seventh in walks (63), tied for ninth in triples (9) and tied for 12^th in most runs batted in with 85.  
•Kali Tomlinson ranks first in slugging pct. (.622), second in doubles (43), third in home runs (28), and in total bases (319), fourth in RBIs (118), and eighth in hits (188).
•Emma Grote is fourth in runs scored (120), tied for fifth in hits (198) and is tied for 10^th in stolen bases (29). 
•Megan Cull is second in games finished (38), sixth in strikeouts (276), and seventh in appearances (91)
 
            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 50th season of softball in 2021.
•SMSU has played 1,897 games compiling an all-time record of 983-913-1.
•SMSU has won 10 NSIC regular season championships, two NSIC Tournament titles and has played in four NCAA Tournaments.