THIS WEEK: Minot State travels to the University of Mary for its Northern Sun opener Wednesday starting at 2 p.m. and continues a six-game road swing to start conference play at St. Cloud State Saturday and Minnesota Duluth Sunday.

RECORDS: Minot State comes into the week with an 8-5 overall record and is 0-0 in league play. U-Mary is also 0-0 in league play and is 6-19 overall. After the first midweek games, SCSU is 0-2 in NSIC and 16-12 overall, while UMD is 2-0 (NSIC) and 19-7 (overall).

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 281-155 overall record. UM's head coach is Kerry Shaw. He is in his first season and is 6-19 overall. Paul U'Ren is the head coach at St. Cloud State and has compiled an impressive 631-437 record in 20 seasons at SCSU. UMD's head coach is Jen Walter who is in her second season with the Bulldogs. She is 54-24 overall with UMD and is 501-257 in a stellar head coaching career.

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: None of the teams were ranked in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Top 25 poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State dispatched Montana State Billings 7-2 and 7-1 in a pair of nonconference games Sunday. Lauren Cowden paced the Beavers with three hits and five RBIs in the series. Jenn Spencer and Clarissa Ramirez both picked up wins in the circle. U-Mary dropped its final three games and five of six during the Regional Crossover Tournament in St. Joseph, Mo. SCSU lost twice to UMD on Tuesday to begin NSIC play. The Bulldogs edged the Huskies 76 and 6-4 in the double header in Duluth.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: The Beavers have struggled traditionally with U-Mary, trailing the all-time series 64-17, but are 6-5 since joining NCAA Division II and are 5-3 in NSIC play since joining the league. The Beavers lead St. Cloud State 8-4 overall and trail UMD 7-5.

LAST TIME OUT: Minot State split with the University of Mary in early April last year, falling 8-4 in game 1 but edging the Marauders 6-5 in 12 innings in game 2. Ashley Hill singled home Clarissa Ramirez in the 12 for the game winner. Jenn Spencer went the distance to earn the win for the Beavers. The Beavers also split a pair of games with both SCSU and UMD to end the regular season last year. The Beavers defeated UMD 5-3 in the first game before falling 4-0 to start the weekend off. MSU dropped a 3-1 decision in game 1 to SCSU, but rallied for a 3-2, 11-inning win in game 2 as Lauren Cowden forced home Isis Cabral on a bases loaded walk in the 11th.

NOTING THE MARAUDERS: The University of Mary has not been able to hit with a lot of consistency early in the season, batting just .253 as a team… Leading the way at the plate are a trio of Marauders who are batting above .300 including team-leader Rebekkah Keller, who comes into the weekend at .380… Taylor Mendez has 12 extra base hits out her 25 total with 12 doubles and five home runs, both to lead the team.

NOTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State's Alyssa Coletto has 34 hits and a .425 batting average to lead the team through 28 games. She has 11 doubles and 23 RBIs so far… SCSU had four pitchers who have recorded at least one win so far this season… Megan Hedstrom is 6-5 with a 3.05 ERA to lead the pitching staff.

NOTING THE BULLDOGS: Minnesota Duluth started the season 1-5, but have won 17 of its last 20 games… Sam Hartmann leads a stellar pitching rotation as she is 8-3 with a 1.89 ERA in 12 starts. She has 47 of the team's 84 strikeouts… Ashley Taipale and Valerie Hohol are a combined 6-2… Sammi Sadler leads the team with a .349 batting average.

400 CLUB: Minot State has three regular players who are all hitting over .400 on the season. Leading the way is Jordan Grant who has a .462 average with 18 hits. Tori Zimmermann is second with a .442 average and has 19 hits. Ashley Hill comes into the weekend batting .435 and leads the team with 20 hits.

A LITTLE EXTRA FOR LAUREN: Lauren Cowden has 14 hits on the season and half of those have gone for extra bases. Of her seven extra base hits, four have been doubles, three triples and one has been a home run.

BY THE NUMBERS

2: Time the Beavers have been thrown out attempting to steal in 24 tries.

9: Earned runs in 30.1 innings pitched for Clarissa Ramirez. She sports a solid 2.08 ERA in 10 appearances including seven starts.

30: Strikeouts for Jenn Spencer in the circle this season to lead the Beavers. Spencer is 4-3 with a 2.24 ERA.