Gameday Notebook at NCAA Central Regional

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THIS WEEK: Minot State travels to Hays, Kan., for the NCAA Division II Central Regional Tournament. The Beavers finished with the No. 5 seed in the Central Region, and will match up against No. 4 Central Oklahoma in the first round. The other first round game is No. 1 Fort Hays State against No. 8 Emporia State. All four teams have advanced to the Central Regional 1, a double elimination tournament. The winner moves on to the NCAA Division II Super Regional against the Central Regional 2 winner.

RECORDS: MISU set a record for wins in a season and topped 40 wins for the first time in school history, going 40-9 overall. Central Oklahoma is 42-11 overall. Fort Hays State is 45-10, and Emporia State is 38-18entering the tournament.

COACHES CORNER: Bill Triplett is the head coach at Minot State University and has compiled a solid 194-77 record in six seasons, including three straight 30-plus win campaigns. Genny Stidham is in her 16th season as the head coach at Central Oklahoma, reaching the 400-win mark in her career. She enters the weekend at 466-289-2. Erin Kinberger is in her second season at Fort Hays State and is off to an impressive 76-29 record. Emporia's head coach is Julie LaMaire, who is also in her second season as head coach, and is 80-29 overall. The combined records of the coaches in the regional is 816-424

FOLLOW THE BEAVERS: MSU provides live video and live stats at msubeavers.com. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.

RANKINGS: Minot State was not ranked in the May 1 edition of the NFCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll. Central Oklahoma was the highest ranked team in the poll, coming in at No. 12. Fort Hays State was ranked No. 15 in the poll, while Emporia State was not ranked.

RECENT HISTORY: The Beavers finished second overall in the U.S. Bank / Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Softball Tournament in Rochester, Minn., last week. The Beavers went 4-2 overall, losing to Minnesota State in the championship of the tournament. Central Oklahoma went 2-2 in the MIAA tournament, losing to Fort Hays State and Emporia State over the final two games. Fort Hays State went 4-1 on its way to winning the MIAA tournament, defeating Emporia, who went 5-2 in a marathon tournament, for the title. FHSU lost game 1 of the championship to Emporia 1-0, but won game 2 7-4.

NOTING THE BRONCHOS: Central Oklahoma got a big season out of Kacie Edwards, who sports a .411 batting average, smacking 69 hits with 18 home runs. Edwards has also driven in 53 runners… The Bronchos have used a total of four pitchers this season ,but Kalynn Schrock has been the workhorse, pitching 204 innings. She has a solid 1.88 ERA and is 25-6 overall… UCO played two NSIC teams this season, topping Minnesota State 1-0 and splitting with Augustana College in a tournament in Tucson, Ariz.

NOTING THE TIGERS: Fort Hays State is the top seed in the tournament after winning both the MIAA regular season title and the conference tournament title… The Tiger have five players who have started all 55 games and are batting at least .300. Pacing the offense is Maddie Holub who has impressive numbers, batting .436 with 18 home runs, 52 RBIs, 10 doubles and three triples… Holub is arguably the best two-way player in the country as she is 27-2 in the circle with a .77 ERA. She has given up just 26 runs in 209 innings pitched. Opponents are eking out just a .117 batting average against her and she has an impressive 328 strikeouts.

NOTING THE HORNETS: Emporia State is probably sick of seeing Fort Hays State as the two teams have played four times this season, with FHSU winning three of those games… ESU's Karly Schmelzer is 31-9 with a 1.72 ERA in the circle this season… Emporia has stolen 66 of 76 bases this season, led by Taylor Zordel and Jessica Brewer who have combined to swipe 41 of 43 on the season… Zordel is a complete player who has a .395 average, with 15 doubles, seven home runs, 26 RBIs and three triples to go alogn with the 29 stolen bases. She also has 99 assists on the season on defense.

NATIONAL TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE: Minot State has qualified for the NCAA Division II National Tournament in its first year eligible after transitioning from NAIA to NCAA DII. The Beavers, however, are no stranger to the national stage as Minot State qualified for the NAIA National Tournament in the final two seasons in the league. Minot State officially has been to three straight national events it's has been eligible for as MISU was a DII Independent last season and could not qualify for postseason play due to its Provisional status.

JENNY BEST ON THE BLOCK: Junior Jen Dixon (OF/P, Brandon, Manitoba) had a breakout season, finishing as the NSIC leader in multiple categories. She finished the year with a .469 batting average, amassing 17 doubles, 12 home runs and six triples, while knocking in 49 runs. Her slugging percentage was a gaudy .923 and she has a .552 on-base percentage. Dixon was also named the NSIC Gold Glove winner in left field, committing just one error on the season while holding a .975 fielding percentage.

GREEN-BERG WITH ENVY: MISU senior Mandy Greenberg (P, Winnipeg, Manitoba) made a splash in her first season in the Northern Sun as well, compiling a 24-4 overall record in the circle and was named NSIC Pitcher of the Year. She gave up just 32 total runs in 155 2/3 innings pitched. Her 1.12 ERA was among the national leaders as was her 249 strikeouts on the year. She held opposing batters to a .157 batting average and helped the Beavers pitching staff hold opposing batters to a .199 average on the season. In the tournament, she went 3-1 with a season-high 17 strikeouts in the opener for MISU against Upper Iowa.

TWO WAY THREAT: Minot State senior pitcher/infielder Tiffany Friesen (Morden, Manitoba) has been effective hitting and as well as pitching for the Beavers all season. She has been Minot State's No. 2 pitcher this season, coming into the weekend with a 1.93 ERA and a 13-5 record. She has five saves overall this season as well. At the plate, she is second on the team with a .380 batting average, with 15 home runs and 60 RBIs. She is the team leader in both HRs and RBIs.

POWER SURGE: The Beavers hit six home runs in six games at the NSIC tournament, pushing its season total to 52, the most in school history. Minot State has two players, Tiffany Friesen (15) and Jen Dixon (12), who have hit more than 10 and a third, Melissa Bell (So, C, Belgrade, Mont.) who is one away with nine. Eight different Minot State players have smacked round-trippers this year as well, including Brittany Thorson (Fr., SS/P, El Paso, Texas) who hit her first collegiate home run in the championship game of the conference tournament Sunday.

STEADY ALI: Minot State sophomore shortstop Ali Cygan (Bozeman, Mont.) has started 49 games for the Beavers at shortstop, finishing with a .940 fielding percentage with 85 assists on the season. She has also batted leadoff for much of the season, hitting .285 overall with five doubles, four triples, three home runs and 19 runs batted in. She also has 10 total stolen bases on the season to lead the Beavers on the basepaths.

BEAVERS IN THE BALANCE: Minot State's success on the field has not overshadowed its success in the classroom this season. Two main points are seniors Maribel Casillas (OF, Murrieta, Calif.) and Carmen Vargas (C, Cathedral City, Calif.) will stay behind for an extra two days to participate in graduation at Minot State as both are getting diplomas two years after transferring to MISU from junior college. Also, junior Jen Dixon became the first MISU student-athlete to be selected to the Capital One Academic All-District team. The 3.83 GPA, Physical Education major is now nominated to be the first Capital One Academic All-American in school history.

– GO BEAVERS –

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Gameday Notebook at NCAA Central Regional