The Bemidji State University softball team continues its non-conference portion of its schedule this week by traveling to face Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference competition at the Dragon/Beaver Battle hosted at the West St. Paul Dome in West St. Paul, Minn. The Beavers (0-2, 0-0 NSIC) will face Concordia University-St. Paul, Southwest Minnesota State University and Minnesota State University, Moorhead during the two-day tournament.
Bemidji State kicks-off the tournament by facing Concordia-St. Paul and SMSU Thursday, Feb. 22 at noon and 2 p.m., followed by MSU-Moorhead and SMSU again at 9 and 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 23.
Scouting the Golden Bears
The Golden Bears (3-1, 0-0 NSIC) opened their season last weekend at the Spring Classic hosted by Emporia State University and went 3-1 during the tournament. CSP defeated Southwest Baptist University and Arkansas Technical University on the first day and then split the second day with No. 14 University of Missouri-St. Louis and No. 10 Southern Arkansas University.
Sophomore Lily Langevin leads the team with a .455 batting average while senior Nicole Thompson and junior Carlie Hart each lead the team with three RBI. Sophomore Kali Kaestner has posted two wins in the circle for the Golden Bears and in 8.2 innings, has a 0.00 ERA with three strikeouts. Sophomore Aryka Knoche follows with a 1-1 record and has a 9.69 ERA.
Scouting the Mustangs
The Mustangs (0-2, 0-0 NSIC) return to action after opening their season Feb. 5 against University of Minnesota Duluth, falling in both games to the Bulldogs.
SMSU is led by Bailey Johnson who has three hits in four at bats including two doubles while Kali Tomlinson has two hits in four at bats. Athena Golling leads the team with a 4.20 ERA in the circle while Shelby Crank has a 7.88 ERA. Both pitchers are 0-1 in the circle.
Scouting the Dragons
The Dragons (1-3, 0-0 NSIC) opened their season at the Minot State Tournament, Feb. 17-18 and went 1-3 during the two-day event. MSU-Moorhead fell to University of Minnesota, Crookston, University of Providence and Minot State University but rebounded with a 11-7 win against Providence in their second meeting.
MSU-Moorhead is led at the plate by Elizabeth Johnson who is batting .538 with two doubles and leads the team with four RBI. Aunica Novacek follows with five hits in 11 at bats (.455) and has three RBI. Becky Berth leads the Dragons in the circle and is 1-2 this season with a 5.78 ERA and 10 strikeouts. Tori White has made two appearances and is 0-1 with a 5.73 ERA.
Bemidji State is led at the plate by Brooke Phillips and Makayla Pagel who each has two hits in six at bats (.333). Alexandra Ripka leads the team with two RBI with one homerun while Kelsey McAllister (.286) has one solo homerun. McAllister leads the team with two extra-base hits.
Stephi Dullum leads the team with a 4.26 ERA while Megan Pehrson follows at 4.50.
The Beavers return 13 letterwinners and six starters from a 2017 season that saw BSU finish with a 28-19 record and sixth in the NSIC regular season standings. Bemidji State welcomes five newcomers to the squad in 2018 including three freshmen and two transfers.
Head coach Rick Supinksi has been at the helm of the BSU softball team for seven seasons and has compiled a 97-146 record.