BSU Softball adjusts game times for Wednesday’s doubleheader

The Bemidji State University softball team and University of Minnesota Duluth have opted to delay their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader on Wednesday, April 21 by one hour and will now start at 2 and 4 p.m. The decision was made in an attempt for warmer temperatures at game time.

Bemidji State holds 13th in the NSIC standings enter the week’s action while Minnesota Duluth is seventh in the standings. The Beavers (9-21, 5-11 NSIC) are coming off a 1-3 weekend after being swept at No. 21 Winona State University and then earned a split at Upper Iowa University. Minnesota Duluth (20-10, 10-6 NSIC) is hoping to rebound against the Beavers after being swept at Concordia University-St. Paul and Minnesota State University, Mankato this past weekend.

The Beavers are struggling at the plate this season and are last in the NSIC with a team batting average of .206 and are 14th in the conference with just 94 runs. Minnesota Duluth is hitting .314 as a team and ranks sixth in the league while they have scored the third-most runs in the league at 188.

Bemidji State’s pitching staff is 13th in the conference with a team ERA of 4.80 and also rank 13th by allowing opponents to bat at a .319 average. The Bulldogs pitching staff is fifth in the NSIC with a team ERA of 3.16 and have held opponents to just a .258 batting average to also rank fifth.

The Beavers are led on offense by sophomore Emmarie Yeager who is batting .300 with 15 hits in 50 at bats and just returned from suffering an injury earlier in the season. She is followed by senior Lis Kossan who is batting .282 with 22 hits in 78 at bats and leads the team in on-base percentage (.440), runs (16), hits (22) and hit by pitch (12). Senior Lexi Derrick is third on the team with a .256 batting average and leads the team in slugging percentage (.474), RBI (19), doubles (5) and home runs (4).

Bemidji State’s pitching staff continues to be run through senior Stephi Dullum who is 6-5 this season with an ERA of 3.72 in 69.2 innings of work. Her 66 strikeouts this season paces the team and has pitched four complete games with one shutout. She is followed by freshman Stella Dolan who has an ERA of 4.17 in 43.2 innings and is second on the team with 50 strikeouts. Redshirt freshman Kyla Damerow has posted a 2-8 record this season with an ERA of 6.60 in 46.2 innings while junior Kaidron McClafferty has posted an 0-6 record with a 5.42 ERA in 31.0 innings.