PREVIEWING THE WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University softball team (16-27 overall, 8-12 NSIC) finish the regular season with six games at Mustang Field. 
•The Mustangs are set to welcome Augustana (38-7, 22-2) into town on Thursday, April 21, for a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m.
•SMSU will then host a pair of doubleheaders against Minnesota Crookston (14-33, 5-17) beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday for Alumni Day and Bemidji State (10-32, 7-15) on Sunday beginning at noon for Senior Day. 
 
GAME COVERAGE
•Live stats and video for all games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
STRETCH RUN
•The Mustangs currently sit in 10th place in the NSIC.
•The top 10 seeds make the NSIC Tournament from May 5-7 at the RYFSA Complex in Rochester, Minn. 
•SMSU is one game ahead of Bemidji State in the win column and three games better in the loss column, with SMSU holding a .400-win percentage and BSU sitting at .318. 
•Bemidji closes their season with two home games and four road games, starting by hosting St. Cloud State on Wednesday before traveling to play USF on Saturday and the Mustangs on Sunday. 
 
BOUMAN BALL
•Bailey Bouman is in her fourth season as head coach with an overall record of 71-80, including 38-42 in NSIC play.
•The Mustangs finished 27-20 last season, their best season since 2011, while winning their first NSIC tournament game since Bouman's first season in 2019
•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.
 
CHASING HISTORY
•After a home run against UMD on Monday, Bailey Johnson moved her career hit total to 213. 
•The fifth person in program history to reach the 200 hit plateau on Mar. 28 against Sioux Falls, Johnson is 10 hits away from tying the program record, held by Erin Dickhausen.
•Johnson is extremely familiar with the career record books, where she is first in doubles, second in batting average, runs scored, and on base percentage, third in slugging percentage, hits, sacrifice flies and total bases, fourth in times hit by pitch and walks, and fifth in RBI's.  
 
LAST TIME OUT
• SMSU went 1-5 last week, walking off CSP in game one before losing game two, starting a five-game losing streak with doubleheader losses to St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth.
• After Morgyn Otte would recover from a one out single and walk in the top of the eighth inning, Molly Bull would lead off the bottom of the inning with a four-pitch walk, get to second on a wild pitch, and would score on a Lileya Kebos single up the middle to give SMSU the game one victory.
• CSP would hold a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning of game two before exploding for five runs in the sixth inning to help them to victory.
• After a Patia Wolfe RBI double to bring the Mustangs within one run at 2-1, SCSU would add three runs to go up 5-1 in the fifth and would score one more in the sixth to bring the game to its final score.
• Game two would be all SCSU, scoring a run in the first, four in the second, and five in the fifth to win 10-1 in a five-inning contest. 
• Bailey Johnson would hit a two-run home run to tie game one with UMD at 3-3 in the third inning, but UMD would outscore SMSU 4-1 the rest of the way, silencing the Mustang bats by retiring the final 11 batters faced. 
• UMD's bats stayed awake for game two, scoring 11 runs on 12 hits to win game two. 
 
SMSU SEASON NUMBERS
•Through 43 games, SMSU is averaging 3.9 runs per game, batting .287 with 60 doubles and 11 home runs.
•The Mustangs' pitching staff has a 5.64 ERA in 264 1/3 innings with 173 strikeouts.
•Senior Bailey Johnson powers the offense, batting .363 with 12 doubles, three home runs, 22 runs scored, 25 RBIs, and a .973 OPS. 
•Sophomore Jillian Noel is batting .359 with a .969 OPS, six doubles, 20 runs scored, and a team-high six home runs and 28 RBIs. 
•Freshman Abby Russell is hitting .324 with a pair of home runs, 25 runs scored, 23 RBIs and a team-high 14 doubles and eight stolen bases.
•Sophomore Molly Bull and Junior Lileya Kebos have been a problem for opposing pitchers since the start of conference play, hitting .319 (15 for 47) and .304 (14 for 46) respectively, combining for seven doubles, 16 runs scored, and 18 RBIs. 
•Johnson leads the team with 14 multi-hit games, while Noel has recorded a 10-game hit streak this season. 
•Junior Shelby Bloemendaal has gone 8-8 in the circle with a 4.73 ERA, going 100 2/3 innings with 52 strikeouts and a pair of shutouts. 
•Freshman Karlie Miller has appeared in 15 games and has thrown 99 1/3 innings with a team-high 69 strikeouts.
•For career statistics and single-game highs for each Mustang player go to SMSUmustangs.com/softballcareer.
 
ABOUT AUGUSTANA
•Augustana is 38-7 on the year and 22-2 in conference action, have won 19 in a row, and are ranked No. 12 in the country. 
•The Vikings were picked to win in the NSIC, and were ranked No. 2 in the country in the preseason rankings. 
•Mary Pardo is second in the nation with 22 home runs and eighth in the nation with 59 RBIs while hitting .382 with an OPS of 1.322.  
•Augie has a pair of arms that have started at least 19 games, with Amber Elliott (15-2, 1.50 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 103 strikeouts) and Ashley Mickschi (16-2, 1.58 ERA, .93 WHIP) leading the staff 
 
ABOUT MINNESOTA CROOKSTON
•Minnesota Crookston is 14-33 and 15-17 in conference play after getting swept by Augustana and Wayne State last weekend. 
•The Golden Eagles were picked to finish 16th in the NSIC.
•UMC is led by Alina Avalos, whose .361 average, five home runs, 32 RBIs and 33 runs scored lead the team
•Thayda Houser is 6-10 with a 4.94 ERA in 17 appearances, striking out 63 and walking 35 in 83 2/3 innings pitched. 
 
ABOUT BEMIDJI STATE
•BSU is 10-32 and 7-15 in NSIC action after getting swept by Wayne State and Augustana last weekend. 
•The Beavers were picked to finish 12th in the NSIC.
•Mariah Stevenson is hitting .317 with 11 doubles and 18 RBIs, all team highs. 
•Stella Dolan is 5-14 with just a 4.17 ERA in 29 appearances and 18 starts, leading the staff with 78 strikeouts and 10 complete games in 129 1/3 innings.  
 
 SERIES HISTORY
•SMSU is 14-65 all-time against Augustana in a series that started in 1974. 
•The Mustangs are 8-14 at home in the series, and have lost four straight home games against the Vikings. 
•Augie has won the last 13 meetings, with SMSU's last win coming by a 6-1 margin in 2015. 
•SMSU is 43-2 all-time against Minnesota Crookston in a series that dates back to 2000.  
•The Mustangs are 14-1 all-time at home, with SMSU's lone home loss coming in 2010. 
•SMSU has won 21 of the last 23 meetings after winning 22 in a row to begin the series. 
•SMSU is 67-23 all-time against Bemidji State in a series that dates to 1981. 
•The Mustangs are 22-7 at home in the series, including a sweep the last time the two teams played in Marshall (2019). 
•BSU defeated SMSU 8-4 in a non-conference matchup in St. Cloud on Feb. 13 earlier this season.    
 
SMSU PICKED EIGHTH IN NSIC POLL
•Southwest Minnesota State University was picked to finish eighth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•SMSU junior pitcher Shelby Bloemendaal and senior outfielder Bailey Johnson were both named "Players to Watch" in the conference this season. 
•Bloemendaal led the way in the circle for the Mustang last season firing a team-high 124 2/3 innings and 11 complete games, finishing with a 9-8 record with a 3.87 ERA.
•Johnson was a 2021 All-NSIC Second Team member after batting .344 with a team-high .441 on-base percentage. She hit 16 doubles, five home runs, 28 RBI and a 1.004 
 
 SEASON OPENERS
•SMSU is 31-20 all-time in season openers and is 10-3 in openers since the 2010 season after a dominant 8-0 win over Northwest Missouri State on Feb. 4.
 
MUSTANG HISTORY
•Southwest Minnesota State is in its 51st season of softball in 2022.
•SMSU has played 1,951 games compiling an all-time record of 1,003-947-1.
•SMSU has won 10 NSIC regular season championships, two NSIC Tournament titles and has played in four NCAA Tournaments.