LUBBOCK, Texas – The Minot State softball team ushered in the Coach Bailey Gaspar era in style: Four home wins including two dramatic, walk-off victories.
Now it's time to build on that solid start.

The Beavers (4-0 overall) head to Texas to battle five NCAA Division II foes in the Lubbock Sports College Invitational, with two games Friday, two more on Saturday, and wrapping up the weekend Sunday against host Lubbock Christian.

Minot State opens the busy weekend taking on Emporia State (Kan.) at 11 a.m. on Friday, a team that will be playing its season opener which should give the Beavers an edge having four games already under their belt, albeit in the bubble and not outdoors. The Hornets went 25-30 last spring.

The Beavers then take on Chadron State (Neb.) in their second game Friday at 2 p.m. The Eagles (1-2) split a doubleheader against Eastern New Mexico on Wednesday to start the season and took a 3-0 loss Thursday to host Lubbock Christian. The Eagles look to improve on an 11-37 effort in 2022.

Saturday, the Beavers battle Adams State at noon and Texas Permian Basin at 2 p.m.

The Grizzlies are 2-3 on the season having played a series of slugfest as they average 8 runs a game, are hitting .318 with 10 home runs. They also give up more than 11 runs a game and have committed 14 errors defensively, though.

As for Texas Permian Basin, whose lone win is an 11-1 victory over Adams State, the Falcons are hitting .265 with seven home runs coming into the weekend.

Minot State wraps up the weekend against the host Chapparrals (5-1), the Beavers biggest test as 22^nd-ranked Lubbock Christian was 37-11 last season and advanced to the NCAA Division II National Tournament.

Offensively, the Chapparrals also look very impressive hitting .406 with six home runs through their first six games.

The Beavers, of course, have come through in the clutch so far this season with those two-walk-off wins – 8-7 in 8 innings over Carroll College and 8-7 against Dakota Wesleyan.

Taryn Bennett, who had the game-winning RBI single against Carroll, leads the way hitting 6-for-10 with four RBIs, while Gabi Dawyduk is 7-for-13 with three RBIs.
Abbey Kelley had the other walk-off winning RBI for the Beavers and is 5-for-13 with eight RBIs, while Leo Watson is 4-for-10 with six RBIs for a Minot State team hitting .374 and averaging just over 10 runs a game, though without a home run.

In the circle, freshmen Calley Olson and Kierra Fournier each picked up their first collegiate wins over the weekend and sophomore Reegan Floyd added two more victories to lead the Beaver staff, which racked up 22 strikeouts in four games and backed up by a defense that committed just three errors.