For Immediate Release
Monday, March 22, 2021
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Player of the Week
#10 Torri Chute (C/INF, 5-6, So., L/L, Woodbury, Minn./ Stillwater HS) - Augustana
- Hit .400 as the Vikings won four games at the Missouri Western Classic, Emporia Edition
- Tallied eight RBI on six hits and scored four runs over the four wins
- In the victories over No. 23 Central Oklahoma, totaled three RBI on a pair of hits including a double
- In the pair of victories over Emporia State, hit a home run and totaled four hits while driving in five

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#20 Stephi Dullum  (RHP, 5-6, Sr., R/R, Harwood, N.D. / West Fargo HS) - Bemidji State
- Went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA over 14.0 innings at the Hy-Vee Classic in St. Joseph, Missouri
- Allowed just one run (unearned) over the weekend and  totaled 10 strikeouts and held opponents to just a .191 batting average
- Started the weekend by pitching a complete game shutout over Missouri Western where she allowed just six hits, one walk and struck out four en route to a 1-0 victory
- Held No. 9 Rogers State to just three hits and one run, unearned, for her second victory over the weekend
- Totaled six strikeouts against the Hillcats and held the them hitless through the game’s first five innings
- Leads the Beavers with a 4-1 record this season and has posted a 1.82 ERA and has 40 strikeouts

Other Top Performances - Players 
#21 Clara Heislen (CSP) hit .313 on the weekend with five hits. She drove in five RBI and scored four runs on the weekend. She stole two bases while starting in all five games for CSP on the weekend.

#22 Sydney Nielsen (MSU) batted .462 with six hits, three runs scored and a pair of RBI to go along with a monstrous homer to left field against #9 Rogers State.

#23 Damaris Cuevas (USF) during six games, hit .667 with 10 hits in 15 at bats, two doubles, a team-high five RBI and 12 total bases plus a .722 OBP. Cuevas had a .800 slugging mark and a 1.000 fielding percentage with 14 put outs and an assist. Cuevas registered hit in all six games and had at least two hits in 3-of-6 games including three with two RBI against Central Oklahoma. She had two RBI and two hits in a 5-3 win over Emporia State. Her hit in the 7th inning of a 3-1 win over Emporia State Sunday started a three-run game-winning rally for USF. On the season, she is hitting .576 with a .697 slugging mark and .622 OBP.

#12 Kali Tomlinson (SMSU) helped SMSU to a non-conference doubleheader sweep over UMary on Friday batting 4 for 8 with two home runs, a double, three runs scored and five RBIs. She finished with 11 total bases in the two games with a 1.375 slugging percentage. Tomlinson had one hit in game one, but in game two went 3 for 4 with two home runs, a double, three runs scores and four RBIs. She now ranks fourth in team history with 23 home runs, is fifth in doubles (34) and sixth in total bases (259).

#9 Cassie Francesconi (SCSU) led the Huskies with a .545 batting average at the HyVee Classic, tallying six hits in 11 at bats, with four runs, one double, one triple, one home run and three RBI. She led the team with an impressive 1.091 slugging percentage over the weekend thanks to her double, triple and home run. She tallied 12 total bases and went 2-3 on stolen bases. She went 2-2 with two runs, and RBI and a home run in the Huskies 4-3, 8 inning loss to Northeastern on Saturday. She followed that up by going 3-4 with one run and one RBI in Sunday’s 7-6 8 inning loss to Central Missouri. Additionally she went 1-2 with one run and one RBI in an 8-0 win over Northeastern on Sunday. She tallied seven putouts and did not commit a single error in center field.

#17 Amanda Williams (UIU) hit 5-13 (.385) over four games on the weekend to lead UIU. Finished the weekend with 5 runs batted in, 2 runs, 1 home run, and 1 double. Put the Peacocks on the scoreboard first in the first game of each double-header gameday, notching an RBI single in the first inning on Saturday and a 2 RBI home run in the third on Sunday.

#4 Rylee Stout (WSU) went 6-for-11 at the plate across five games in the Missouri Western Hy-Vee Classic this past weekend. Stout drove in three RBI, cracked a double and a home run, helping lead WSU to a 3-2 record in the tournament. She also drew three walks.

Other Top Performances - Pitcher
#50 Amber Elliott (AUGIE) picked up a pair of victories in the circle including a a win over No. 23 Central Oklahoma. In all, she twirled 14 total innings with an ERA of 2.50. In her first win of the weekend over Emporia State, she gave up two runs and struck out five in the complete-game win. In the victory over UCO, she struck out nine in the complete-game win.
 
#9 McKayla Armbruster (MSU) pitched thirteen scoreless innings earning two wins to improve to 5-0 on the season while improving her season ERA to 0.23. She struck out seven batters while only walking a pair of batters on the weekend. 

#44 Kaitlyn Vanderzwaag (USF), in three games in the circle, was 1-1 with a 3.29 ERA and two complete games with nine strikeouts. She allowed eight runs across 17 innings. She was winning pitcher in a 5-3 win over Emporia State in which she allowed one earned run and two hits. Then she was the hard-luck loser in a 2-0 setback to Central Oklahoma when she allowed just two runs and five hits across six innings. She also hit .316 with six hits in 19 at bats in those six games.

#18 Megan Cull (SMSU) fired her first career shutout in a 4-0 non-conference win over UMary on Friday. She limited UMary to four hits and recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts with one walk in improving to 5-1 on the season with a 1.53 ERA. Cull ranks ninth in team history in appearances (79) and ninth in strikeouts (228).

#15 Trinity Junker (SCSU) went 1-0 at the HyVee Classic on Sunday, surrendering just one earned run and two hits in 8.2 innings of work for a .81 weekend ERA. She threw a complete game one-hitter in the Huskies 8-0 win over Northeastern State on Sunday. She tallied a career-high 10 strikeouts in five innings of work and walked just two batters. She came in relief in St. Cloud State’s 7-6 extra innings loss to Central Missouri and gave up just one earned run on one hit in 3.2 innings of work. Ended the weekend with a team-leading 16 strikeouts and surrendered just four total walks.

#14 Abby McKay (UIU) secured a victory for the Peacocks in their first of four games over the weekend with a complete game performance that included 11 strikeouts and only two runs allowed in a 3-2 win. Hit 2-6 (.333) over two games, including a 1-2 (.500) outing in which she hit a solo home run to give UIU a lead in her 7-inning win as the starting pitcher. She had 13 Ks in 11.1 innings and recorded an RBI in each of her two games.

#3 Kleman Jordyn (WSU) raised her record to 8-0 on the year with three wins at the Missouri Western Hy-Vee Classic this past weekend. Kleman threw 16 innings over three games, conceding just eight hits. The La Crosse Logan product struck out 21 while only walking four. Warrior opponents were held to just two runs total when she was in the pitching circle, one of which was earned.
 

NSIC Softball Players of the Week
2/16/21
Player:  #14 Megan Conrads - St. Cloud State
Pitcher: #24 Sydney LaPoint - St. Cloud State
2/23/21
Player: #12 Makenzie Merritt  - Northern State
Pitcher: #23 Trinity Valentine - Minot State
3/1/21
Player: #20 Kendall Cornick - Augustana
Pitcher: #16 Alissa Alvarado - University of Mary
3/8/21
Player: #12 Jordyn Thomas - Minnesota Duluth
Pitcher: #17 Mackenzie Ward - Minnesota State
3/15/21
Player: #7 Libby Neveau - Winona State
Pitcher: #14 Liz Pautz - Winona State
3/22/21
Player: #10 Torri Chute - Augustana
Pitcher: #20 Stephi Dullum  - Bemidji State

About the NSIC
The NSIC is a 16-team, 18-sport, NCAA Division II conference with institutions located in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The NSIC is a model Division II conference that uses high-level athletics competition to develop champions in the classroom and community while empowering student-athletes to be impactful and positive leaders. Formed in 1992 by the merger of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (men’s league) and the Northern Sun Conference (women’s league), the NSIC has flourished over the past quarter century, maturing into a 16-team union of Upper Midwest colleges and universities. The NSIC has won 23 team national championships and crowned 77 individual national champions. For additional information, visit NorthernSun.org.

About NCAA Division II
The NCAA, the national governing body for college athletics, is a volunteer association of more than 1,000 colleges and universities that classify their athletics programs in one of three membership divisions. The 300+ institutions in NCAA Division II support a balanced approach in which student-athletes have the opportunity to earn scholarships based on their athletic ability, pursue their desired academic degree, and participate in all the campus and surrounding community have to offer. Division II student-athletes annually graduate at rates higher than their student body peers, and they have access to the best championships-participant ratio among the NCAA’s three divisions. Division II gives student-athletes the unique opportunity to compete in the classroom, on the field, in their career, for their causes, and on their terms. For additional information, visit NCAA.org.