THIS WEEK: Minot State travels to Sioux Falls for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament played at both Bowden Field and Sherman Park. The Beavers, the No. 9 seed, begins with No. 8 seed Southwest Minnesota State Thursday at 10 a.m. at Bowden Field. If MSU wins, they will take on either top seed Minnesota State or No. 2 seed Winona State depending on the other first-round game.

RECORDS: MSU finished the season with a 23-20 record and tied SMSU for eighth with a 15-15 NSIC record. The Mustangs, who are 23-21 overall and 14-14 in league play, earned the No. 8 seed by virtue of the tiebreaker.

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 296-170 overall record. Triplett announced this will be his last season with the Beavers. SMSU's head coach is Jamie Dunn who is 84-113-1 overall in four seasons as 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: Minnesota State comes into the week as the No. 9 ranked team in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Top 25 poll. They are the only NSIC team ranked, but Wayne State College earned votes.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State went 3-3 down the stretch to earn a bid to the NSIC Tournament. The Beavers split a key series at Northern State in their midweek contest. Minot State then swept visiting Concordia-St. Paul, before falling twice to No. 10 ranked Minnesota State to end the season.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: The Beavers and Mustangs are tied at six wins each in the all-time series.

LAST TIME OUT: Minot State split with SMSU in mid-April at Herb Parker Stadium. The Beavers hammered SMSU 14-5 in five innings in game 1 as Jordan Branch hit a home run and had a double to finish with two of MSU's five extra base hits. The Beavers led 5-1 in game 2 before SMSU rallied with four runs in the third and four more in the fifth to take a 9-7 in the second game.

NOTING THE MUSTANGS: Southwest Minnesota State won five of its last six games to earn a spot in the tournament… Sam Flack leads the team with a .355 batting average with nine doubles and 20 RBIs… SMSU had nine players in double figures in runs batted in… Taylor Koloc paced the team with five HRs and batted .321… Alex O'Connor finished 12-9 overall with five saves and a solid 2.61 ERA in 145 innings pitched… Koloc also led the Mustangs with 13 stolen bases as SMSU finished with 45 stolen bases on 64 attempts.

RACHEL STEADY AS EVER: Minot State senior Rachel Burdette enters the NSIC tournament with a .309 average with 11 doubles, a triple, a home run and 32 RBIs. Those numbers mimic her career numbers as she is a career .304 hitter and has averaged 29.5 RBIs per season. She is the team's all-time leader in games started in the DII era with 192, not missing a start in her four-year career.

HILL HAS MOUNTAIN OF RBIS: MSU junior Ashley Hill finished with 44 RBIs to finish in seventh overall in the Northern Sun. She has 124 runs batted in over her three-year career. Overall, Hill batted .364 with 11 home runs and eight doubles. She didn't commit an error on the season at first base and had 276 putouts.
 
THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM: MSU speedster Jordan Grant was named to the All-NSIC team for the third straight season. She earned first-team honors in the outfield for the first time in her career. On the season, Grant is hitting .481 with 65 hits overall. She has 40 runs scored and has knocked in six. Where she is most dangerous, however, is on the bases. She has swiped 38 bases on 39 attempts.

BY THE NUMBERS

3: Trips to the NSIC tournament in five season in the league for Minot State.

13: Wins for senior Jenn Spencer on the season, going 13-12 with two saves. She has a 4.34 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 143 innings pitched.

26: Hits for senior Clarissa Ramirez on the season including seven doubles and a home run.

68: Steals this season for Minot State as the Beavers have swiped 68 of 79 bases. The dynamic duo of Jordan Grant and Lauren Cowden have combined for 53 of 55 overall.