For Immediate Release
Monday, April 28, 2014
NSIC Media Relations
Full PDF Release
Tournament Website

The 2014 NSIC Softball Tournament bracket has been set as regular season play finished up this afternoon.  The top ten teams in the final regular season standings will participate in the double-elimination tournament, which will be held May 1-3 at Sherman Park in Sioux Falls, S.D.  PDF Bracket

NSIC Player of the Week
#16  Sami Schnyder
IF, 5-5, So.,  R/R,
Waconia, Minn.
Waconia HS
Minnesota Duluth

Sami Schnyder has been the Bulldogs’ best hitter throughout the year and stepped up to the plate with an outstanding week at the leadoff spot compiling a .625 average (15-of-24) with five doubles, six runs scored and five RBIs. Schnyder, who batted .750 with runners in scoring position and .800 with two outs on the week, played an essential role in a victory that locked up a NSIC postseason berth. With the Bulldogs down to their final out and down two to the Golden Bears, Schnyder cleared the bases with her go-ahead 3-RBI double to complete the comeback. She also produced the only hit to break up a no-hitter versus the Mavericks. In addition, Schnyder tallied at least three hits in four games to up her current hitting streak to 11 games going into the conference tournament.

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#6  Brooke Redmond
LHP, 5-4, So.,  L/L,
Basehor, Kan.
Basehor-Linwood HS
Upper Iowa

Brooke Redmond nearly had her first collegiate perfect game on Friday against Minnesota Crookston. The southpaw threw four complete innings without giving up a single run or hit. UMC finally earned a hit off Redmond in the fifth, but she was still able to pick up the win, 14-1. In all, Redmond posted a perfect 3-0 record this past week as the team swept BSU and UMC and split with No. 17 Augie. Redmond posted a complete-game shutout against the Vikings allowing just five hits, while striking out seven and walking only one. Then against UMC, the sophomore allowed just one hit, while coming up just two strikeouts shy of her career-high (10) against UMC. The Basehor, Kansas native followed that up with a 9.2 innings outing against BSU this past Saturday as the Peacocks came-from-behind to earn a 7-6 victory in ten innings. Redmond allowed a total of just 14 hits through 20.2 innings, while striking out 23 batters. The three wins gives her 14 victories in a single season for the second straight year.
 
          
NSIC SOFTBALL TEAM NOTES
Augustana
#32 Sarah Kennedy (IF, 5-8, Fr., L/R, Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf HS) has been swinging a hot bat over the last six games, batting .500 with a home run and seven RBI helping Augustana to a 5-1 record over its final stretch of conference games. Kennedy had a big day on Friday afternoon at Minot State going 6 for 7 with a home run and five RBI in the doubleheader. In game one, Kennedy picked up a career-high four hits going 4 for 4 with two RBI and two runs scored. The freshman shortstop followed up in game two going 2 for 3, including a three-run home run to pick up three RBI. She finished the week with 11 hits in 22 at bats while scoring six runs and driving in seven.
#14 Carley Pickett (LHP, 5-4, So., L/L, Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul HS) posted a 3-1 record to go along with a 1.05 ERA in four appearances last week. Pickett tossed one complete-game and combined for a shutout while striking out 19 batters in 20 innings of work. She picked up her 12th win of the season in game one at Upper Iowa on Tuesday coming into to the game in relief, tossing four innings and striking out two while allowing just one run on two hits. On Friday, Pickett gave up just one run on five hits while striking out four in an 11-2 win over Minot State. She improved to 14-5 on the season in game two at U-Mary on Saturday matching her season-high with seven strikeouts tossing six shutout innings.    
 
Bemidji State
The Bemidji State University softball team finished its season being swept in doubleheaders against U-Mary, Winona State and Upper Iowa. BSU lost 17-1 and 5-0 to the Marauders, 11-0 and 6-0 to WSU and 6-0 and 7-6 in ten innings to Upper Iowa. The six-run outburst against the Peacocks was the most runs Bemidji State scored in a NSIC game this season.
BSU finishes the season 11-31 overall and 0-26 in NSIC play. The Beavers’ 11 wins stand as a three-win improvement from 2013.
The Beavers will lose three key players to graduation, but will return a lot of experience as 14 players from this season’s roster are set to return for 2015.

Concordia-St. Paul
Alicia Meiser (OF, 5’9”, Jr., Circle Pines, Minn, / Centennial HS) had a big week at the plate, going 11-19 (.579) with a triple, six runs scored and a perfect 7-7 on the base paths despite missing a game due to injury. Her biggest day of the week came against SCSU on Saturday as the Golden Bears locked up the final spot in the NSIC Tournament. She was only retired once at the plate as she went 6-7 with a triple and two runs scored. Meiser now ranks 10th in the NSIC in batting average at .395 and second in steals with 32.
Concordia-St. Paul used three consecutive splits this week to grab the final spot in the NSIC Tournament. The Golden Bears opened up with a midweek split against SMSU, the team chasing them in the standings. CU eked out a 2-1 win in game one before the Mustangs responded with a 5-2 win in game two. On Friday, UMD slugged out a 12-10 win in the first game but the Golden Bears fought back in the second game for a crucial 5-4 win. In the end, Concordia needed one win to get into the tournament and they did exactly that. Junior Stephanie Kappes delivered a 5-0 shutout win in game one before the Huskies stormed back with a wild 11-10 win in 10 innings in game two. The Golden Bears will now take on the seventh-seeded U-Mary in the NSIC Tournament next Thursday at 10 a.m. in Sioux Falls in an opening round game.

University of Mary
#7 Amber Gamboa (C, 5-4, Fr., R/R, Gilroy, Calif. / Gilroy HS) continued her strong rookie campaign last week going 9-for-17 (.529) with four doubles, a triple and a home run (1.059 slg %). The Marauders catcher also drew two walks as she reached based at a .579 clip. Driving in seven runs, Gamboa also scored seven. A native of Gilroy, Calif., Gamboa’s top performance came in a 4-for-4 effort, her second of the season, against Bemidji State, that included three doubles and two runs batted in.

Minnesota Crookston
The University of Minnesota Crookston softball team finished up the season going 0-6 on the week. The Golden Eagles hung close in a 4-2 loss to Upper Iowa thanks to strong pitching from Bailey Braatz (Fr., P/1B, Buffalo, Minn.), who went five innings, giving up four earned runs on eight hits with two strikeouts in her strongest outing of her young career. The Golden Eagles ended up losing a pair to Upper Iowa and Winona State on the weekend and lost a pair on the weekend to Minot State.
The Golden Eagles ended the season with a 3-34 mark and a 1-23 mark in conference play. UMC’s conference slate was guided by a win over St. Cloud State University. UMC matched their season mark from the 2013 year. UMC also picked up wins on the year over St. Michael’s College and Slippery Rock University during their Spring Break trip to Clermont, Fla.

Minnesota Duluth
The University of Minnesota Duluth wrapped up the final week of the regular season going 4-2 in its final three double headers to finish 25-19 overall, 11-8 in the conference to position themselves with the No. 6 seed in the NSIC Tournament. The Bulldogs, who face third-seeded Augustana on Thursday at 12 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D., swept Minnesota State Moorhead twice (4-2, 5-3) in their home finales this past Wednesday and salvaged a pair of splits against Concordia-St. Paul (12-10, 4-5) and No. 8 Minnesota State Mankato (0-4, 6-2). UMD is 4-3 against teams ranked in the Top-25, which includes a NSIC double header split with Augustana earlier this spring.
Sami Schnyder (IF, 5-5, So., Waconia, Minn./Waconia H.S.) has been the Bulldogs’ best hitter throughout the year and stepped up to the plate with an outstanding week at the leadoff spot compiling a .625 average (15-of-24) with five doubles, six runs scored and five RBIs. Schnyder, who batted .750 with runners in scoring position and .800 with two outs on the week, played an essential role in a victory that locked up a NSIC postseason berth. With the Bulldogs down to their final out and down two to the Golden Bears, Schnyder cleared the bases with her go-ahead 3-RBI double to complete the comeback. She also produced the only hit to break up a no-hitter versus the Mavericks. In addition, Schnyder tallied at least three hits in four games to up her current hitting streak to 11 games going into the conference tournament.
Mariah Schultz (P, 5-9, Fr., Lewiston, Minn./Onalaska Lutheran H.S.) finally came back to the mound full-time and responded well after recovering from an injured foot which sidelined her for nearly two months in the circle. Schultz pitched in three games and collected a victory to improved her record to 4-1. She scattered only five hits in 10 innings of work and whipped up a 1.40 ERA and held opposing batters to a .128 average. In four innings of work against Concordia, Schultz allowed only a walk versus 13 batters. She slammed the door on the Golden Bears during the final two innings in the wild 12-10 come-from-behind win, retiring all six batters. In her second career start, Schultz managed to go the distance and pitched a career-high six innings, holding the No. 8 Mavericks to four runs on five hits.
 
Minnesota State
The Minnesota State softball team won its third-straight NSIC regular season title after it posted a record on 5-1 over the past week to finish the regular season with a 41-9 overall record, while going 25-3 on the circuit. The senior duo of Kelly Wood and Lindsay Erickson who played all four years for the Mavericks capped off their final regular-season games with a 184-47 overall record. The Mavericks started the week sweeping the University of Sioux Falls by scores of 3-0 and 11-3 in six innings on Tuesday before downing St. Cloud State, 3-1 and 9-1 in five innings Friday. MSU was able to secure its third-straight conference crown on Saturday as it split with Minnesota Duluth, claiming game one, 4-0 before dropping the season’s finale 6-2.
Senior Anna Cole led a potent Maverick offense that outscored its opponents 32-11 in the six-game stretch. Cole batted .550 scoring five runs on 11 hits in 20 at bats with a single, two triples, one home run and a .950 slugging percentage. The Blue Springs, Mo., native reached base 55% percent of her at bats and helped her squad claim its third-straight NSIC regular season title.
Freshman Coley Ries capped of her stellar freshman regular season with a 21-4 overall record after going 3-1 in the final week of the regular season, helping the Mavericks secure their third-straight NSIC regular season title. The Eagle Lake, Minn., native posted a 1.17 ERA in five games including three complete-game starts with two shutouts. Ries allowed four earned runs on 10 hits in 24 innings of work and also earned her second save of the season.

MSU Moorhead
Mollie Annen (5-5, So., OF, Shakopee, Minn. / Shakopee HS)  had a solid week for the Dragons, hitting .313 (10-of-32) from her leadoff spot.  Annen had three doubles, a homer and five RBI in eight games. She had a .500 slugging percentage and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. In the second game of a doubleheader sweep over Jamestown on Monday, Annen was 2-for-4 with three RBI. She was also 3-for-7 with two runs scored in Game 1 against SMSU, a game that lasted 14 innings. For the season, Annen led the Dragons with a .325 average to go along with seven doubles, three homers and 11 RBI.
Morgan Nybo (P, 5-6, So., Minnetonka, Minn. / Hopkins HS) was 1-3 with a 2.22 ERA in four starts last week. She allowed only 11 earned runs in 34.2 innings of work. She picked up her eighth win of the year in an 8-4 win over Jamestown on April 21. She pitched a career-high 14 innings and allowed just three earned runs while striking out nine in a 5-4 loss to SMSU on Friday. She had 22 strikeouts and just nine walks in 34.2 innings of work.
Nybo finished the 2014 at 8-12 with a 4.01 ERA in 134.1 innings, leading the Dragons in wins, shutouts (four) and strikeouts (88).
MSUM won 15 games in 2014, more than doubling their win total a year ago. It is the most wins for the Dragon program in a season since the Dragons won 18 in 2008. MSUM’s nine conference wins were most in a single-season since 2007.

Minot State
Minot State University was stymied at home to end the regular season as they fell four times to top Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference teams. The Beavers were swept by No. 24 Augustana College and then again by Wayne State College Friday and Saturday. Minot State finished the regular season in the eighth spot and will take on No. 9 Upper Iowa in Game 1 of the NSIC Championships Thursday in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Beavers did not hit the ball consistently all weekend, but got a solid series from #17 Katie Backes (UTL, 5-7, R/R, Sr., Minot, N.D. / Bishop Ryan) and #15 Melissa Bell (C, 5-9, L/L, Jr., Belgrade, Mont. / Belgrade). Backes hit a home run as a part of six hits on the weekend and Bell collected five hits including a home run.

Northern State
The Wolves ended the week 3-3 after wins over Sioux Falls and SMSU. Northern swept the fifth ranked Cougars in Friday softball play. Lindsey Hubler and Rachel Albright each recorded home runs in the wins, while Missy Elkins and Kami Smesmo notched wins. Elkins would tallied another win, as the Wolves secured the mercy rule victory over the Mustangs on Saturday. Senior Lindsey Hubler capped her Wolves career with a 3-4 game from the plate. Northern ended the season 16-28 overall and 9-19 in the conference.

SMSU
Kaley Scearcy (3B, 5-7, Sr., R/L, Mankato, Minn. / Mankato West) ended her career by going 11 for 24 in her last six games as a Mustangs. For the Week she batted .458 with a .542 slugging percentage and a .480 on-base percentage. She collected 11 hits, scored twice, recorded two doubles and knocked in one. She ended her senior campaign hitting .338, collected 12 RBIs, and a team-leading 48 hits.
Rachel Hoeppner (SP, 5-10, Jr., R/R, Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) went 2-1 in her four appearances this week for SMSU. The junior hurler turned in three complete game performances, including a 14-inning 5-4 win over MSU Moorhead on Friday. She ended the week with an ERA of 1.25, 12 strikeouts and just five earned runs in 28 innings pitched. Hoeppner finishes the season 9-13 overall with an ERA of 3.41 in 174.2 innings of work.
SMSU finished 2014 with an overall record of 15-30-1 and 12-17-1 in the NSIC. 2014 marks the third straight season SMSU has missed the NSIC tournament.

Sioux Falls
After struggling in their first two series of the week and not claiming a win, the Cougars bounced back in their final series against MSU Moorhead as they swept the doubleheader to claim the fifth seed in the NSIC softball tournament. Next up the Cougars will square off with the fourth seed in the NSIC Tournament in Wayne State at Sherman Park in Sioux Falls with first pitch slated for 12 p.m.
Amanda Walters (P, 5-8, Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D./Washington HS) made her presence known on the mound over the past week, compiling two wins and one save in her four appearances on the mound. Walters put together an era of 1.91 and a WHIP 1.09 which included two shutout appearances against MSU Moorhead. The senior pitcher also continued to baffle opposing batters as she struck out 24 batters which increased the USF school record and NSIC leading mark to 210 strikeouts on the season.
Erin Scott (OF, 5-4, Jr., Aurora, Colo./Seward County CC) has heated up over the last week as she went hit 0.647 (11-of-17) at the plate in the Cougars six games over the past week. Scott also put together an on base percentage of 0.700 and a slugging percentage of 0.647 while also scoring two runs. Scott also recorded perfect appearances at the plate in two games, going 2-of-2 versus Minnesota State and 3-of-3 versus Northern State.

St. Cloud State
The St. Cloud State University softball team wrapped up their 2014 season over the weekend. The Huskies played their final home games on Tuesday, April 22 as they took on Northern State University. The Huskies swept the Wolves 3-0 and 5-1. St. Cloud State traveled to Minnesota State University and fell to the Mavericks 1-3 and 1-9 on Friday, April 25 and came back to split against Concordia-St. Paul by falling 0-5 and winning 11-10 in ten innings to close out the year. They finished with a 14-28-1 overall record and completed an 8-17-1 mark in the NSIC. Kelsie Fitch (Carver) led the Huskies offensively over the week, collecting six hits in 13 at bats for a .462 average. Stephanie Roan also collected six hits and a team-high five RBI’s. Senna Francesconi pitched a team-high 25 innings as she appeared in four of the games. Francesconi gave up just eight earned runs and struck out 16 batters for a 2.24 ERA in the final six games.

Upper Iowa
Lauren Marlinghaus (IF, 5-5, So., O’Fallon, Ill./O’Fallon Township HS) earned her first collegiate walk-off home run and her fifth jack of the season against No. 17 Augustana to defeat Augie, 1-0, at home last Tuesday. Marlinghaus’ homer helped the Peacocks go 5-1 this past week to conclude conference play. In all, she posted a .556 batting average, a .889 slugging percentage and a .619 on-base percentage while earning two doubles and that home run. Furthermore, Upper Iowa’s third-baseman added five RBIs to her stat line – all coming one game at a time through the first five games of the week. Thanks to her outstanding week, Marlinghaus is now ranked 20th in the NSIC in conference batting average (.378), 13th in slugging percentage (.649), and 17th in on-base percentage (.452). Her three doubles this past week also bump her up to eight total in conference play, which is fifth-best in the league.
Brooke Redmond (P, 5-4, So., Basehor, Kan./Basehor-Linwood HS) nearly had her first collegiate perfect game on Friday against Minnesota Crookston. The southpaw threw four complete innings without giving up a single run or hit. UMC finally earned a hit off Redmond in the fifth, but she was still able to pick up the win, 14-1. In all, Redmond posted a perfect 3-0 record this past week as the team swept BSU and UMC and split with No. 17 Augie. Redmond posted a complete-game shutout against the Vikings allowing just five hits, while striking out seven and walking only one. Then against UMC, the sophomore allowed just one hit, while coming up just two strikeouts shy of her career-high (10) against UMC. The Basehor, Kansas native followed that up with a 9.2 innings outing against BSU this past Saturday as the Peacocks came-from-behind to earn a 7-6 victory in ten innings. Redmond allowed a total of just 14 hits through 20.2 innings, while striking out 23 batters. The three wins gives her 14 victories in a single season for the second straight year.
The Upper Iowa softball team posted a 5-1 record this past week as they sweep Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston and split with No. 17 Augustana at home. UIU came out strong against Augie on Tuesday and despite tying the game late, the Vikings earned the go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning to steal a 6-5 victory in game one. The Peacocks battled back in game two thanks to seven scoreless innings from UIU’s southpaw Brooke Redmond. With the game tied, 0-0, the teams headed to the bottom of the seventh. The Peacocks’ third baseman Lauren Marlinghaus needed to see just one pitch to change the entire game. She sent the first pitch she saw over the fence in left field for her first collegiate walk-off home run. UIU then followed that up with four big wins against UMC and BSU this past Friday and Saturday. The Peacocks blew past UMC, 4-2 and 14-1, on Friday before outlasting BSU, 6-0 and 7-6, on Saturday. The final game of the weekend went to extra-innings, but UIU’s senior second baseman Adrienna Olson ripped an RBI-double to right to bring Shelby Crist all the way home from first base. The score came in the bottom of the tenth as UIU earned its second walk-off victory in the past six games. UIU will now begin the 2014 NSIC Softball Tournament as the ninth seed after finishing the regular season with a 13-13 conference record. The Peacocks will face eighth-seeded Minot State this Thursday at 10 a.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Wayne State
Kaiti Williams, a 5-7 junior left fielder from Papillion, Nebraska (Papillion-LaVista South HS), posted a team-best .381 average last week going 8 for 21 at the plate with two homers and 6 RBI’s while scoring four runs.  Williams had three multi-hit games during the week, highlighted by going 2 for 4 with a double, homer and two RBI’s in a 5-1 win at Minot State followed by another 2 for 4 game with a run scored in an 8-3 win over the Beavers.  Williams also went 2 for 4 in a 3-2 loss at #25 Winona State last Tuesday.
Junior pitcher Kelcie Bormann (Preston, Iowa) was 1-1 during the week in three starts with a 2.93 ERA.  In 14 innings pitched, she gave up 14 hits and six runs with eight strikeouts and two walks.  Bormann fired a complete game win in an 8-3 victory at Minot State Saturday, striking out five batters while allowing three runs on nine hits.

Winona State
Ashley Walker, DP/P, Jr., Shakopee, Minn. (Shakopee) finished her regular season strong, hitting .429 with four extra base hits and six RBI as the Warriors finished the conference schedule with six wins. Walker made her mark during the weekend, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI in the opening game of a doubleheader against Bemidji State. She followed with two hits, a double and RBI in the second game. The junior finished the weekend by going 3-for-6 with another double and two RBI in a pair of wins over Minnesota Crookston. Walker had four doubles on the week while posting an on base percentage of .478 and a slugging percentage of .619. Walker also scored eight runs for the Warriors. She was also outstanding in the circle, posting a 3-0 record with a 0.93 ERA that included a career-high nine strikeouts against Bemidji State.
Hanna Lythberg, P, So., Mount Prospect, Ill. (Prospect) closed the regular season in style, recording a 0.37 ERA in three appearances while recording a 2-0 record for the Warriors. Lythberg began the week by pitching all nine innings of an extra inning win over Wayne State, allowing just three hits while giving up only one earned run – her only earned run of the week. She followed with a complete game two-hitter while striking out six against Bemidji State. She pitched three innings of relief against Minnesota Crookston Saturday, striking out four. In total on the week, Lythberg allowed just seven hits and a single earned run in 19.0 innings while striking out 14.

Past Players/ Pitchers of the Week
2/11/14 Player: Lindsay Spanton, Augustana
 Pitcher: Janelle Trautmann, Augustana
2/18/14 Player: Samantha Holien, Minnesota State
 Pitcher: Not Awarded
2/25/14 Player: Morgan Lintz, Winona State
 Pitcher: Brooke Redmond, Upper Iowa
3/3/14 Player: Allison Brown, U-Mary
 Pitcher: Amanda Walters, Sioux Falls
3/10/14 Player: Allison Brown, U-Mary (2)
 Pitcher: Coley Ries, Minnesota State
3/17/14 Player: Jenny Nelson, WSU
 Pitcher: Cayli Sadler, Minnesota Duluth
3/24/14: Player: Samantha Holien, Minnesota State (2)
Pitcher: Coley Ries, Minnesota State (2)
4/1/14 Player: Lindsay Erickson, Minnesota State
Pitcher: Coley Ries, Minnesota State (3)
4/8/14 Player: Melissa Bell, Minot State
Pitcher: Jenelle Trautmann, Augustana
4/15/14: Player: Jen Dixon, Minot State
Pitcher: Sara Scheffert, Wayne State
4/21/14: Player:  Jenny Nelson, Winona State (2)
Pitcher: Ashley Walker, Winona State
4/28/14: Player:  Sami Schnyder, Minnesota Duluth
Pitcher: Brooke Redmond, Upper Iowa