Independent file photo SMSU’s Megan Cull fires a pitch during their April 9 game against MSU Mankato. The Mustangs will begin NSIC Tournament play on Thursday against Upper Iowa University.

MARSHALL – The Southwest Minnesota State softball team (18-24 overall) prepares for the fifth straight conference tournament appearance. SMSU is seeded ninth and will face the eight-seeded Upper Iowa at 10 a.m. Thursday on Field A at the RYFSA Complex in Rochester.

•The top ten teams advanced to the conference tournament.

Game coverage

•Live stats will be available for fans at smsumustangs.com.

•Updates can also be found by following @SMSUSoftball on Twitter.

NSIC Tournament Information

•The double-elimination tournament begins on Thursday and continues to the championship on Saturday.

•Winona State earned the No. 1 seed after winning the NSIC regular season going 30-0, the first undefeated team since the 2006 season.

•Winona State will face the lowest seed remaining of the UIU/SMSU game and Minot/USF. Augustana, the second seed, will take on the remaining higher seed.

NSIC Tournament history

•SMSU earned its fifth consecutive appearance in the conference tournament in 2019.

•In the last year appearances, the Mustangs have gone 8-8 after a 3-2 outing last season.

•The last time SMSU won the tournament was in 2007.

Previewing

the Mustangs

•SMSU comes into the week at 18-24 overall and the ninth seed in the conference tournament.

•SMSU concluded the regular season going 1-3 in a weekend road series splitting with Minnesota Duluth and getting swept by St. Cloud State.

•Bailey Johnson leads the Mustangs at the plate batting .408 with team-high 49 hits. Johnson has 13 doubles, four triples, and four home runs.

•Kali Tomlinson has hit a team-high six home runs and ties Johnson as the RBI leader with 26.

•Tomlinson is batting .354 with 45 hits including seven doubles.

•SMSU has three players batting over .300. SMSU has hit 20 home runs.

In the circle

•Athena Golling leads the Mustangs with a 11-11 record in the circle and a 2.72 ERA with 23 appearances and 21 starts.

•Megan Cull has a 5-9 record and a 4.61 ERA with 18 game appearances and 13 starts.

•Golling leads in strikeouts with 97 while Cull has 60..

•Shelby Crank has a 2-3 record in 13 appearances with seven starts and 25 strikeouts.

Previewing

Upper Iowa

•Upper Iowa is 23-22 overall and the eighth seed in the conference tournament.

•UIU swept SMSU earlier this season.

•UIU earned the victory in game two with a walk-off grand slam in extra innings.

•UIU earned a sweep over UMary in the final day of regular season to snap a six-game losing streak.

•Katie Crogan leads the Peacocks in batting with a .397 batting average and leads the team in hits with 58. Crogan also has drove in a team-high 45 RBIs.

•UIU has six players batting over .300.

•The Peacocks have 28 team home runs.

•Emily Kisch has a 11-9 record with 73 strikeouts this season. Kisch also holds a 3.44 ERA.

•Jaclyn Thompson has a 5-8 record with 48 strikeouts and a 4.82 ERA.

•Head coach, Amanda Bradberry, is in her sixth season at UIU with a 114-101 overall record and 85-83 in the NSIC.

UIU series history

•Upper Iowa leads the all-time series between the teams with a 17-15 advantage after the Peacocks swept the Mustangs earlier this season.

•SMSU has a 2-1 advance in games played at neutral sites.

•SMSU last faced UIU in the conference tournament on May 1, 2009, when SMSU hosted the conference tournament and earned a 7-0 shutout victory.

NCAA statistics

•SMSU ranks 38th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.82) and 65th in triples per game (0.26).

•Bailey Johnson ranks 78th in batting average (.412) and 64th in triples (4).

•Athena Golling ranks 45th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.41)

Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications