For Immediate Release
Monday, March 16, 2020
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Player of the Week
#2 Carly Esselman (OF, Sr., L/L, Farmington, Minn. / Farmington HS)
Minnesota State
- Batted .458 with 14 RBI, four home runs and nine runs scored to lead MSU to a 6-0 record to wrap up The Spring Games
- Recorded her 200th career hit in the win over Pitt-Johnstown
- Went 3-of-4 with four RBI, a homer, a double and stolen base against PJU
- Went 2-for-4 with four RBI and a home run against Lock Haven
- Finished the season homering in each of the last four games
- Named NSIC Player of the Week for the second time this season (2/11/20)

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#24 Sydney LaPoint (RHP, 5-8, So., R/R. Green Bay, Wis. / Bay Port HS)
St. Cloud State
- Posted a 4-0 record and surrendered just one earned run in 24 innings in the final week in Florida
- Surrendered one earned run on 10 total hits while walking just a single batter
- Pitched three complete games, two of which were shutouts, in her final three starts of the trip
- Pitched a complete game two-hitter in a 3-0 win over Le Moyne
- Pitched a complete game three-hitter in a 4-0 win over Lake Eerie
- Earned wins over Lewis (5-1) and Indiana (PA) (7-6) 
- Came in in relief in the win over Indiana (PA), pitching three perfect innings while tallying five strikeouts

Other Top Performances - Players
Mary Pardo (AUGIE) hit .400 with a team-high eight hits during the final six contests at the 2020 Spring Games. Led the team with eight RBI and two home runs. Clubbed a team-high three doubles and one triple.  Finished the nine game spring trip with 28 total bases, the most on the team, and a .470 OB%. Was perfect in the field, making multiple diving catches and finishing with a 1.000 FLD%. Helped the Vikings go 8-1 in Florida.
Jordyn  Thomas (UMD) batted a team-high .500 (10-for-20) in the Bulldogs' final six games of their Florida Spring Break trip. Turned in a .800 slugging percentage while hitting two homers and driving in six runs. Racked up 16 total bases.
Jordie  McNeilly (MSUM) hit a team-best .450 during six games in Florida this past week, helping MSUM to 3-3 mark. Had two homers and five RBI. Had .800 slugging percentage and .476 on base percentage. Was 3-for-4 with two homers and five RBI in win over Salem.
#28 Kaitlyn  King (NSU) went 6-for-10 at at THE Spring Games as Northern went 4-1.  Tallied two home runs and six RBI. Added two putouts and eight assists defensively. Hit a week best 3-for-4 with a home run, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored versus Dominican.
Frankie  Mickelson (USF) in helping lead USF to a 4-2 mark during the Spring Games in Clermont, Fla., hit .312 with five hits in 16 at bats with four home runs. She also had nine RBI and a 1.063 slugging mark. Had a .385 OBP with a team-high 17 total bases.
Jillian  Noel (SMSU) hit .552 to help the Mustangs finish 8-2 in Florida and 6-2 last week. Collected 16 hits off 29 at bats, including four doubles and one homerun. Hit a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to earn the Mustangs a victory over Lake Erie (Pa.). Had four runs with 11 RBI.
#24 Alexis  Kelsey (WSU) went 11-of-18 over six games with 11 RBI and three home runs; only struck out two times in 18 plate appearances. Has not recorded an error on the season. Led Winona State to an 8-2 record in Florida.
 
Other Top Performances - Pitcher
Ashley  Mickschl (AUGIE) made seven appearances at the 2020 Spring Games and finished with a 6-1 record. Pitched two complete games and one shutout.  Allowed just seven runs and finished with an impressive 1.62 ERA. Collected 33 strikeouts in 30.1 innings pitched.  Held opponents to just a .195 batting average. Helped the Vikings go 8-1 in Florida.
#12 Anna  Lang (MSUM) went 2-1 with an 0.92 ERA in 15 innings to help MSUM to 3-3 week. Allowed just two earned runs in 15 innings. Fired first collegiate shutout in 2-0 win over Nyack. Opponents hit just .267 against her on the week.
#9 McKayla  Armbruster (MSU) went 3-0 pitching three complete games allowing only two runs and three walks while striking out 20 batters.
#4 Meghan  Anderson (NSU) went 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA from Florida. Tallied 23 strikeouts in 19.0 innings pitched. Held opponents to a .182 average. Threw three complete games, including one shutout.
Kaitlyn  VanDerZwaag (USF) was 2-0 with a 1.38 era with three appearances and two starts. She allowed just seven hits in 13 innings and allowed only two earned runs with eight strikeouts. Teams hit just .159 against her.
#9 Sloan  Cooksey (WSC) made five appearances, all in relief, recording four saves with a 0.00 ERA in 13 innings pitched. Allowed just five hits and two runs (both unearned) with 13 strikeouts and eight walks holding opponents to a .116 average. Pitched three innings of one hit relief for a save in 7-1 win over Ferris State; worked three innings of two hit relief with four strikeouts and save in 2-0 win over Slippery Rock (Pa). Also worked three innings of one hit relief with four strikeouts and save in 5-1 win over Urbana.
#2 Alyssa  Van Valey (WSU) went 2-0 over Florida trip; struck out four and allowed six hits in a five-inning win over Indiana (PA); threw 4.1 shutout innings against Pitt-Johnstown to get 8-0 win; allowed just two hits and struck out four against Mountain Cats; only walked one person in 9.1 innings pitched.
 

NSIC Softball Players of the Week
2/5/20
Player: #11 Jen Martin - Northern State
Pitcher: #26 Ashley Mickschl - Augustana
2/11/20
Player: #2 Carly Esselman - Minnesota State
Pitcher: #17 Mackenzie Ward - Minnesota State
2/18/20
Player: #14 Christina Pickett - Augustana
Pitcher: #26 Ashley Mickschl  - Augustana
2/25/20
Player: #17 Cassie Querry  - Minnesota Crookston
Pitcher: #4 Meghan Anderson  - Northern State
3/2/20
Player: #1 Isis Cabral - Minot State
Pitcher: #3 Jordyn Kleman - Winona State
3/9/20
Player: #13 Hannah McCarville - Minnesota State
Pitcher: #17 Mackenzie Ward - Minnesota State (2)
3/16/20
Player: #2 Carly Esselman - Minnesota State (2)
Pitcher: #24 Sydney LaPoint - St. Cloud State