CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston softball team will continue Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) action this weekend. The Golden Eagles will take on the University of Sioux Falls Sun., March 31 at 12 and 2 p.m., at Sherman Park in Sioux Falls, S.D. Minnesota Crookston's games against Southwest Minnesota State University, originally scheduled for Sat., March 30, have been moved to Mon., April 1 at 12 and 2 p.m., at Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center in Marshall, Minn. Saturday's games were moved due to higher temperatures on Monday.

The Golden Eagles enter the weekend with an 11-15 (0-2 NSIC) mark. Minnesota Crookston is one win away from tying the school record for wins of 12 set during the 2017 season. Sioux Falls enters the weekend with a 10-13 (0-2 NSIC) record. Southwest Minnesota State comes into the weekend with a 7-7 (2-0 NSIC) mark.

Minnesota Crookston at Sioux Falls
Sun., March 31 – 12/2 p.m.
Live Stats - https://usfcougars.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary
Video - https://portal.stretchinternet.com/siouxfalls/

Minnesota Crookston at Southwest Minnesota State
Mon., April 1 – 12/2 p.m.
Live Stats - https://smsumustangs.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary
Video - https://portal.stretchinternet.com/smsu/

Minnesota Crookston Projected Starters
Jr. C 29 Samantha Proctor, .245 avg., 5 runs, 2 2B, 6 RBIs
Sr. 1B/3B 3 Rocky Bjorge, .278 avg., 6 runs, 5 2B, 1 HR, 10 RBIs
or Fr. 1B 12 Darian Pancirov, .069 avg., 2 runs
Jr. 2B/LF 17 Malia Pula, .345 avg., 16 runs, 6 2B, 2 HR, 19 RBIs
Sr. 3B/2B 26 Maggie Morales, .333 avg., 7 runs, 6 2B, 2 HR, 19 RBIs
Jr. SS 33 Mika Rodriguez, .295 avg., 25 runs, 6 2B, 5 HR, 13 RBIs
Fr. LF 22 Hannah Macias, .261 avg., 9 runs, 7 2B, 6 RBIs
Sr. CF 1 Haley Strachan, .296 avg., 9 runs, 1 RBI
Fr. RF 7 Hannah Macias, .247 avg., 7 runs, 2 2B, 2 3B, 10 RBIs
Sr. DP 8 Mikayla Jones, .222 avg., 3 runs, 1 RBI

Top Pitchers
So. RHP 15 Taylor Graven, 5-3 2.88 ERA, 73.0 IP, 41 K, 23 BB
Jr. RHP 11 Paige Pitlick, 4-9 3.17 ERA, 70.2 IP, 60 K, 20 BB
Sr. RHP 8 Mikayla Jones, 2-3 7.60 ERA, 31.1 IP, 11 K, 16 BB

The University of Minnesota Crookston is looking to rebound from a sweep to Bemidji State University to open NSIC play earlier this week. The Golden Eagles are led by Malia Pula (Jr., UT, Gilroy, Calif.), who is hitting .345 with 16 runs scored, six doubles, two home runs and 19 RBIs. Jordan Peterson (So., C/UT, Lakeville, Minn.) is batting .368 with six runs scored and eight RBIs. Maggie Morales (Sr., 3B/1B, Tucson, Ariz.) has been carrying a big bat for Minnesota Crookston as of late. Morales is hitting .515 over the last 10 games with three runs scored, four doubles, one home run and nine RBIs. Fellow senior Haley Strachan (OF, Phoenix, Ariz.) has also been swinging the bat well as of late. Strachan is batting .400 over the last nine games with three runs scored. Samantha Proctor (Jr., C, Champlin, Minn.) has also been impressive of late as she is batting .348 over the last nine games with two runs scored, one double, and three RBIs. The Golden Eagles are hitting .307 over the last 10 games with 35 runs scored, 13 doubles, one triple, three home runs and 32 RBIs.

In the circle, transfer Taylor Graven (So., RHP, Greene, Iowa) has been the ace of the staff with a 5.3 mark with a 2.88 ERA in 73.0 innings pitched. Graven has 41 strikeouts to just 23 walks. Paige Pitlick (Jr., RHP, Jordan, Minn.) has also been impressive in the circle as she has a 3.17 ERA with four wins in 70.2 innings pitched. Pitlick has 60 strikeouts to just 20 walks. Pitlick has allowed a team-low 17 extra base hits on the season. Mikayla Jones (Sr., RHP, Huxley, Iowa) has been a key arm out of the bullpen in recent weeks. She is 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in her last six appearances with batters hitting just .269 against her. Minnesota Crookston has a 4.04 ERA in the last 10 games with 41 strikeouts to just 24 walks.

Sioux Falls Projected Starters
So. C 16 Emmie Uitts, .191, 7 runs, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBIs
Jr. 1B 13 Sydney Nieveen, .288, 13 runs, 3 2B, 8 RBIs
Sr. 2B 2 Emily Hove, .299, 13 runs, 5 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 19 RBIs
Sr. 3B 9 Emily Miller, .103, 6 runs, 1 2B, 4 RBIs
Jr. SS 43 Lindsey Mossman, .176, 5 runs, 1 2B, 10 RBIs
Fr. LF 3 Lexie Swift, .431, 17 runs, 5 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBIs
Jr. CF 5 Frankie Mickelson, .238, 8 runs, 4 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBIs
Fr. RF 27 Sarah Keen, .316, 4 runs, 3 2B, 2 RBI
or Jr. RF 8 Ashley Meyer, .270, 6 runs, 2 HR, 9 RBIs
Sr. DP 32 Kerrigan Hoshaw, .188, 7 runs, 2 HR, 3 RBIs
or Fr. DP 7 Kylan Straight, .333, 6 runs, 4 RBIs

Top Pitchers
Jr. RHP 14 Courtney Matthews, 5-5 2.53 ERA, 63.2 IP, 42 K, 11 BB
Sr. RHP 32 Kerrigan Hoshaw, 3-5 4.25 ERA, 52.2 IP, 40 K, 27 BB

University of Sioux Falls brings in a 10-13 (0-2 NSIC) record. The Cougars had been sitting right around .500 before they entered their conference opener and dropped two games to Southwest Minnesot State University. USF is looking to snap the current six game skid they are in and get back to being above .500. The Cougars are hitting .258 as a team and have accumulated 42 extra base hits which makes their slugging percentage .388. The pitching staff of USF has a team ERA of 4.09 and 94 total strikeouts.

The Cougars have four hitters who are batting above .300. Offensively USF is led by Lexie Swift who is hitting .431 through 23 games played. Swift is 28-for-65 and has notched nine extra base hits, two of those are home runs. Swift has also drawn 14 walks at the plate and swiped four bags on the year. Swift also brings in a team high .662 slugging percentage. Emily Hove is hitting .299 on the season and brings in a team high 19 RBI's. Hove is 23-for-77 and has a team high six home runs along with 13 runs scored. Sydney Nieveen shows that pitchers are athletes too. Nieveen is hitting .288 with three doubles, 13 runs scored, and eight RBIs. The Cougars offense is strong as three other hitters are hitting above .280. Sarah Keen is hitting .316, Miranda White is batting .333, while Kylan Straight is hitting at a .333 clip.

Courtney Matthews is the ace for USF and has made 14 appearances on the season, 10 of those appearances were starts. Mathews has a team low 2.53 ERA and has a 5-5 record on the season. Kerrigan Hoshaw is 3-5 with a 4.25 ERA with 52.2 innings pitched with 40 strikeouts on the season.

Southwest Minnesota State Projected Starters
Fr. C 16 Kaylea Van Regenmorter, .385, 2 RBIs
Jr. 1B 6 Emma Grote, .439, 13 runs, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 4 RBIs
Jr. 2B 17 Kaylee Hentges, .162, 6 runs, 1 2B, 1 3B, 5 RBIs
Jr. 3B 12 Kali Tomlinson, .333, 5 runs, 2 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs
So. SS 1 Maydsson Schliinz, .125, 3 runs, 2 RBIs
So. LF 24 Bailey Johnson, .395, 9 runs, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 8 RBIs
Sr. CF 7 Abbie Decker, .267, 3 runs, 2 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs
Fr. RF 20 Lileya Kebos, .290, 2 runs, 1 RBI
Jr. DP/C 13 Madison Krog, .345, 5 runs, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs
or Sr. DP 29 Alex Reak, .265, 1 runs, 3 RBI

Top Pitchers
Sr. RHP 11 Athena Golling, 4-3 1.25 ERA, 44.2 IP, 33 K, 9 BB
Jr. LHP 18 Megan Cull, 3-2 4.83 ERA, 29.0 IP, 31 K, 11 BB

Southwest Minnesota State University comes in to this weekend series with a 7-7 (2-0 NSIC) record. SMSU has opened conference play with two wins to the University of Sioux Falls. The Mustangs come in hitting .288 as a team and have collected 19 extra base hits. The Mustangs have also tallied 45 RBIs as a team and has a slugging percentage of .396. The pitching staff for the Mustangs brings in a team ERA of 4.09 and have notched 70 punch outs on the year so far. SMSU will be looking to extend their current three game win streak.

The Mustangs have two conference games under their belt but they bring in three scorching hot bats. Emma Grote has started all 14 games and has a team leading .439 batting average. Grote is 18-for-41 with 13 runs scored, one double, one triple one home run, and four RBI's. Bailey Johnson also comes in swinging a hot bat, her average is just below the .400 mark hitting .395. Johnson has started all 14 games and is 15-for-38. Johnson has four doubles and one long ball on the year. Johnson is also the team leader in RBI's with eight on the season. Kali Tomlinson rounds off the big three with a .333 batting average. Starting all 14 games Tomlinson is 13-for-39 with a .462 slugging percentage. Tomlinson has notched five runs scored and six RBIs on the season. The Mustangs add depth with Maddison Krog hitting .345, Alex Reak hitting .265, and Abbie Decker hitting .267.

Athena Golling leads the SMSU pitching staff with a 1.25 ERA and a 4-3 record on seven starts and eight appearances. Golling has seven complete games on the year. In 44.2 innings of work she has 33 punch outs and has only given up eight earned runs. Meagan Cull usually gets the nod for game two as she brings in a 3-2 record and a 4.83 ERA. Cull has one complete game on the season on three starts and 29 innings pitched. Cull has notched 31 strikeouts and has given up 20 earned runs.