THIS WEEK: Minot State begins its 2017 home schedule with a pair of nonconference NCAA Division II softball games against Montana State-Billings Sunday starting at 12 p.m. The games were moved from earlier in the year to Sunday due to weather.
RECORDS: Minot State comes into the weekend with a 6-5 overall record. MSUB is 12-17 overall and has played 16 conference games already, sporting an 8-8 record in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
COACHES CORNER: Minot State's
Bill Triplett is in his 10th season as the head coach at Minot State. The former CaptainU National Coach of the Year has guided Minot State to both the NAIA National Tournament and the NCAA Division II National Tournament. He has a 279-155 overall record. MSUB's head coach is Jessica Rayman who is in her first season as skipper of the program. She is 12-17 as a head coach.
FOLLOW THE BEAVERS: MSU provides live video – with
Leif Bakken serving as the play-by-play announcer – and live stats at msubeavers.com. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.
RANKINGS: Neither Minot State or MSU Billings were ranked in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Top 25 poll. http://www.msubsports.com/schedule.aspx?path=softball
RECENT HISTORY: Minot State rolled to a pair of wins over Mayville State in nonconference play at the Presentation Dome March 8. The Beavers won 11-0 in five innings and then topped the Comets 10-0 in six innings for the sweep.
Tori Zimmermann finished with five hits in the double header and
Jenn Spencer and
Emma Casey earned wins in the circle. MSUB took three out of four games at home against Western Oregon last weekend in GNAC play, winning the first three games by a combined 22-8 before dropping a 19-18 decision in the finale. Kelsey Devlin finished the series with two hits and three RBIs in each of the final two games. Heather Tracey collected eight hits in the series including five in the finale for the Yellowjackets.
ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: The Beavers are winless in five games against MSUB all-time dating back to 2003.
LAST TIME OUT: Minot State and Montana State Billings haven't played since the 2006 season. The Beavers dropped a 9-1 decision at Billings in a game that was played as an exhibition for Minot State.
NOTING THE YELLOWJACKETS: Montana State Billings took three of four games from Western Oregon in its home debut to even its conference record at 8-8… Scoring has been the name of the game for MSU Billings so far this season as they have reached double-figures in runs in eight games including three losses so far this season… The Yellowjackets have played two other NSIC teams this season, dropping a 6-5 decision in the first game of their own Desert Stinger tournament before hammering the University of Mary 15-2 in the third game for the Stinger… Heather Tracy is leading the team with a .477 batting average and 52 hits already this season… Cameron Cassinelli is second on the squad with a .365 average and leads the team with 10 home runs and 37 RBIs… MSUB has stolen 14 of 18 bases, but has given up 47 of 55 stolen bases on defense… Maddy Lincoln is 8-7 with a 4.86 ERA to lead the pitching staff.
MIDDLE MASHERS: MSU's middle hitters
Rachel Burdette,
Tori Zimmermann and
Ashley Hill have been heating up as the season rolls on. Hill leads the team with a .447 average and has four home runs and 15 RBIs. Zimmermann is second on the team in HRs (3) and RBIs (12) and is third with a .417 average. Burdette is fourth on the team with a .412 average and has one home run and 10 RBIs. The trio has 36 hits in 11 games.
GRAND THEFT BASE:
Jordan Grant is off and running again this season as she is a perfect 7 for 7 in stolen bases. Grant is the Beavers all-time leader with 84 stolen bases in her career, finishing fifth in the NSIC last year (27) and third in 2015 (36). She has been throw out just 12 times in 96 attempts.
PITCHING PROMISE: Minot State's trip of starters
Jenn Spencer,
Clarissa Ramirez and
Emma Casey have given the Beavers solid innings in the circle through 11 games. The Beavers pitching staff has a 2.00 ERA overall with Spencer sporting a 2.29 and Ramirez a 2.40 respectively. Casey hasn't given up an earned run yet this year and is 1-0 with a save to begin her collegiate career.
BY THE NUMBERS
.816: Slugging percentage for
Ashley Hill, tops on the team and third overall in the Northern Sun.
5: Extra base hits out off 11 total for
Lauren Cowden. Cowden is batting .344 on the season, picking up 11 hits in 32 at bats. She has four doubles, a triple and a home run to go along with 11 runs scored.
6: Players for Minot State with at least 10 hits through 11 games. MSU has seven players batting .300 or better to start the season.
