For Immediate Release
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Player of the Week
#9 Abby Lien (UT, 5-8, Sr., R/R, Lakeville, Minn. / Eastview HS) - Augustana
- Helped Augustana to a 6-0 week, with five run-rule victories
- Hit for a .529 average (9-for-17) with a .550 on-base percentage and a 1.294 slugging percentage
- Had seven of her nine hits go for extra bases with three home runs and four doubles
- Totaled 10 RBI, scored nine runs and stole two bases 

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#17 Mackenzie Ward (RHP, Sr., Clive, Iowa / Valley HS) - Minnesota State
- Went 3-0 with a 0.68 ERA in four appearances last week in NSIC play
- Threw one shutout and allowed just eight hits in 20.2 innings
- Held opposing batters to a .118 batting average as she struck out 35
- Named NSIC Pitcher of the Week for the seventh time this season 

Other Top Performances - Players
#8 Amanda Parsons (CSP) hit .619/.652/.905 for a 1.557 OPS (13-21) as CSP went 5-1. She added 3 doubles, a home run, 6 runs and 6 RBIs. She only struck out once on the week and did not commit an error. She hit safely in all 6 games and has an 8-game hitting streak. She went 7-8 with 3 runs, 4 RBIs and a walk-off HR in the doubleheader against MSU Moorhead. Her big week lifted her season line to .465/.521/.669 on the year, ranking 5th NSIC in average & obp - hitting .493 with a .526 obp in league play.
#8 Kiana Bender (UMD), in six games this past week, went 11-for-19 (.589) with eleven RBI and three home runs. Also chipped in three doubles. She hit a game tying three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh on Sunday against Sioux Falls.
Madi Newman (MSU) batted .355 with six hits. She scored seven runs and drove in a team-leading nine runs. She posted a .706 slugging percentage for the week. 
Annika Norman (MSUM) hit a team-best .529 for the week in six games. She was 9-of-17 at the plate with four RBI, including going 6-of-8 in doubleheader against CSP. She was errorless at shortstop with 15 assists. 
#7 Abbey Kelley (MINOT) had a huge week leading the offense, hitting safely in all 6 of the Beavers road games, collecting 10 hits in 19 at-bats for Minot State, scoring a pair of runs and adding a pair of RBIs.
#7 Kylan Straight (USF) average .450 with 9 hits, 9 total bases a .476 OBP, 2 stolen bases and 1.000 fielding percentage. 
#13 Sydney Trees (SCSU) led the Huskies to a 5-1 week by hitting .500 at the plate. She went 10-for-20, slugging 1.150 during the week thanks to her four doubles and three home runs.  She led the team with six runs scored and 13 RBI. She went 6-7 at the plate with two home runs and two doubles in the Huskies sweep of SMSU. She became No. 2 all-time in single-game RBI with six in St. Cloud State's 10-1 game two win. She went 2-3 at the plate in game one against Sioux Falls. In game two, hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth that started the Huskies rally in the 5-4 victory. She hit .600 with runners in scoring position during the week.
#4 Katie Crogan (UIU) hit .667 (8-12) with eight RBI, six runs, five walks, two doubles, and one home run with a .737 on-base percentage and a 1.083 slugging percentage to help UIU go 4-2. She had two multi-hit games and two multi-RBI games, highlighted by a 3-3, one RBI day against No. 12 AUGIE to push them to extra innings and a 2-2, three RBI, two run, one dinger day against UMary. Improved upon her NCAA DII-leading marks in batting average (.520) and on-base percentage (.591). She leads the NSIC in batting average, OBP, slugging percentage (.992), hits (64), and RBI (68), and is second in home runs (15).
Kim Vidlak (WSC) hit .556 going 10-18 during the week with seven RBI and eight runs scored. She hit safely in all six games to extend season-high hit streak to 17-straight including three multi-hit games. She went 3-4 with two stolen bases and two RBI in 6-4 Sunday win over Bemidji State. She was 2-4 with two doubles and three runs scored in 9-4 win over Bemidji State. She also went 2-3 with two RBI in 9-5 Monday win over Minnesota Crookston. She had .619 on-base percentage and .722 slugging percentage.
#20 Logan Anderson (WSU) came off the bench to spark a comeback effort against Minot State, winning a key NSIC contest. She was inserted into game two as a pinch-hitter and hit home run to tie the game at 1-1. With her team down 3-1 at her next at-bat, hit a two-run HR to tie the game. Tied 3-3 in bottom of the seventh, she drove a long fly ball to left field scoring the walk-off winner on a sacrifice fly. Coming of the bench, accounted for all four Winona State runs in the 4-3 victory. She went 2-for-2 against UMary on Saturday as well. She went 4-for-4 on the weekend, with two homeruns, 5 RBI & 3 runs scored.

Other Top Performances - Pitcher
Ashley Mickschl (AUGIE) went 3-0 with two of her games being run-rule victories/. Over 16 innings, held opponents to a .183 average. With her win on Sunday, became Augustana's all-time leader in victories with 105. She totaled 11 strikeouts and held a 0.88 ERA.
#24 Lauren Dixon (UMD) rolled off a 4-0 record last week. She gave up just six earned runs in 21.2 innings of work, while also striking out 29 batters. She was perfect in the field as well.
#14 Jasmine Blizzard (MINOT) picked up a win pitching in four games for the Beavers, allowing just 1 run on five hits in 8 innings pitching while striking out three.
Sami Felt (WSC) went 3-1 during the week with one save. She pitched four innings of relief, allowing just one run in a come from behind win over Bemidji State Sunday. She notched the save in the second game of Bemidji State double header, getting out of bases loaded jam in 6-4 win over BSU. She fired 2.2 innings of hitless relief in Monday 7-4 over Minnesota Crookston. She now ranks fourth in NSIC with three saves this season.
#3 Abby Smith (WSU) went 3-0 in the circle for Winona State this past week. Coming on in relief, she helped lead a comeback win over Wayne State, going 2.1 innings, allowing just one hit. She earned a complete-game win vs. UMary, allowing just one hit in four innings of work. She beat Minot State in a seven-inning game to move to 3-0 on the week.  In 13.1 innings, allowed 12 hits, three runs and walked only one.

 

NSIC Softball Players of the Week
2/8/22
Player: #12 Jordyn Thomas - Minnesota Duluth
Pitcher: #20 Sam Pederson - Minnesota Duluth
2/15/22
Player: #10 Jamie Odlum - Minot State
Pitcher: #9 Meghan Anderson - Northern State
2/22/22
Player: #8 Kiana Bender - Minnesota Duluth 
Pitcher: #24 Liz Pautz - Winona State
3/1/22
Player: #13 Sydney Trees  – St. Cloud State
Pitcher: #15 Trinity Junker – St. Cloud State
3/7/22
Player: #10 Kylie Madrid – Sioux Falls
Pitcher: #17 Mackenzie Ward – Minnesota State
3/14/22
Player:  #12 Delaney Young – Augustana
Pitcher: #17 Mackenzie Ward – Minnesota State (2)
3/21/22
Player:  #20 Grace Beseman - Concordia-St. Paul 
Pitcher: #17 Mackenzie Ward – Minnesota State (3) 
3/28/22
Player: #22 Sydney Nielsen - Minnesota State
Pitcher: #17 Mackenzie Ward – Minnesota State (4) 
4/5/22
Player: #11 Raven Vanden Langenberg - St. Cloud State
Pitcher: #24 Liz Pautz - Winona State (2) 
4/11/22
Player: #30 Mary Pardo - Augustana 
Pitcher: #17 Mackenzie Ward – Minnesota State (5) 
4/18/22
Player: #12 Jordyn Thomas - Minnesota Duluth (2)
Pitcher: #17 Mackenzie Ward – Minnesota State (6) 
4/26/22
Player: #9 Abby Lien - Augustana
Pitcher: #17 Mackenzie Ward – Minnesota State (7) 

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 25 team national championships and crowned 90 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 can 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.