MANKATO, Minn. – After a successful second week of the 2025 NSIC softball season, Minnesota State (24-12, 8-2 NSIC) hopes to replicate it in week three. The Mavericks play a series of double headers against Concordia-St. Paul (16-19, 8-2 NSIC), Minnesota Crookston (13-22, 1-7 NSIC) and Bemidji State (14-16, 1-5 NSIC) this week.
Tuesday, April 1 vs Concordia-St. Paul
Game 1: 11:00 a.m.
Game 2: 1:00 p.m.
Live Stats
Saturday, April 5 at Minnesota Crookston
Game 1: 12:00 p.m.
Game 2: 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 6 at Bemidji State
Game 1: 12:00 p.m.
Game 2: 2:00 p.m.
About the Mavericks
Minnesota State is off to a hot start to this NSIC regular season with an 8-2 record. The Mavericks are currently in a three-way tie for second place in the conference with CSP and Minot State.
MSU went 5-1 last week. First, the Mavericks held Sioux Falls scoreless in its two games against the Cougars. Last Friday, the team split its double header with Minot State with a 5-1 win and a 5-4 loss in 11 innings. Minnesota State bounced back with a couple of wins against UMary on Saturday in the Maverick All-Sports Dome.
Seven Mavericks hit above .300 last week. Senior center fielder Marina Carter led the team with nine hits in 18 at bats for an even .500 average at the plate. She had a double, two RBI, two stolen bases and 10 total bases. Fellow senior third baseman Cheyenne Behrends led the way with eight RBI last week. She hit .350 with seven knocks, a double and a triple. Behrends also had several run-saving plays at third base throughout Minnesota State's six games.
Junior first baseman Gianna Lara led the team with a 1.160 OPS. She hit .421 at the plate with two doubles and a solo homer against the Marauders. Maddie Helin led the team in slugging percentage with a .722 mark at the plate. She hit her first two home runs of the season to go along with a double. She also scored seven runs, the most on the team last week.
The newcomer bats were also working last week. Freshman leadoff hitter Carly Kimmes posted a .500 on base percentage, a .357 batting average and drove in five RBI. Fellow rookie Hannah Tong was second on the squad in batting average with a .444 last week with eight base hits and two doubles.
Sophomore pitcher Maddie Oetzmann was excellent last week as she did not allow a single run to cross while in the circle. She earned wins in all three of her appearances, struck out 12 and allowed just eight base hits. Opposing batters hit just .170 against Oetzmann last week.
Amongst active players, Tong is actually the team leader in batting average in 2025 with a .356 rate at the plate. Lara is second with a .352 batting average and leads the team with a .979 OPS. She is tied for the team lead in doubles (9), home runs (4) and RBI (23) with Izzy Hycnar, who hit .412 with four RBI last week. Behrends leads the team in hits with 38; She has 22 RBI this season. Kimmes is a threat to steal on the base pads, with 15 stolen bases this year.
The Mavericks boast a pitching-by-committee staff in 2025. Three MSU pitchers have an ERA lower than 2.00. Oetzmann has the lowest ERA at 1.45 with a 1.53 WHIP. She holds a 6-3 record with 38 strikeouts in 48.1 innings. Brianne Stone has a similar ERA at 1.46 with a 1.01 WHIP in her senior season. She has 39 Ks and 11 runs allowed this season. Sailor Hall has a 1.87 ERA but a team-best 1.00 WHIP. She leads the team with 60 strikeouts and batters only hit .209 against her.
Legendary head coachLori Meyeris in her 41st season as the Minnesota State softball coach. Meyer has accumulated a 1,405-749-3 record with the Maverick softball team, which is the most wins by an NCAA Division II coach in history. She has coached 31 All-Americans and 126 All-Conference players and has won eight conference titles, taken 17 trips to the NCAA Tournament, and three of her teams have made the NCAA Championship. In 2017, Meyer and the Mavericks won the NCAA DII National Championship.
Minnesota State holds a 60-24-2 record against the Golden Bears, but the teams have been more evenly matched as of late. MSU is 6-4 against CSP in the last 10 games. Earlier this season at the MSU Dome Tournament, the Mavericks won their first game against Concordia, 7-3, but the Bears got the upper hand in game two, 4-1.
The Mavericks are 27-1 against Minnesota Crookston in the all-time series. The Golden Eagles' only victory against the Mavericks was in 2023, when UMC won a barnburner, 16-13 in Crookston. Last year, the Mavericks beat Minnesota Crookston 9-8 and 5-3 at home.
Minnesota State is 39-2 against the Beavers of Bemidji State. The Beavers bested the Mavericks in Rochester, Minn. back in 2023, 9-4, but MSU swept BSU last season in Mankato. Before the loss two years ago, the Mavericks held a 29-game win streak against Bemidji State going back to 2001.
About the Golden Bears
Since starting the season 8-17, Concordia-St. Paul has turned things around with an 8-2 record against conference opponents. The team is tied for second in the NSIC with two other teams.
Last week, the Golden Bears had a rough start with two losses to Winona State before the team won its four remaining games over the weekend against Northern State and MSU Moorhead.
Sydney Pelzer is currently leading the team at the plate. The senior is hitting .388 with a 1.216 OPS with 14 doubles, seven home runs and 40 RBI, all of which are team-highs. Former NSIC Freshman of the Year and All-American Honorable Mention Alexis Monty is hitting .386 with a 1.038 OPS, 44 base hits, eight doubles, three triples, three homers and 23 RBI. Monty also leads the team with 17 stolen bases.
Emmy Bowne is the Golden Bears' best pitcher. She holds a 3.73 ERA with a 1.52 WHIP and a7-8 record. In 80.2 innings pitched, she has struck out 39 batters and allowed 43 earned runs.
Bob Martel is Concordia-St. Paul's head coach. He is in his 21st season with the Golden Bears and holds the program record for all-time wins with 566. Martel was named the NSIC Coach of the Year in 2024.
About the Golden Eagles
Minnesota Crookston is 13-22 in 2025. The team has struggled in conference play, as it has only one win against Southwest Minnesota State. Last week, the Golden Eagles lost its four games against St. Cloud State and Sioux Falls.
Freshman Hannah Trzinski leads the team with a .355 batting average, 33 base hits and 17 RBI. Chayse Doering leads the team in OPS with a .834, doubles (5) and has the only home runs hit by a Golden Eagle this season with two.
Delaney Penner is Minnesota Crookston's leading pitcher in 2025. In 43 innings of work, she has 22 strikeouts, a 4-3 record, a 2.93 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP.
Ashton Sangster is leading the Golden Eagle softball program from the dugout. She is in her second season with Minnesota Crookston.
About the Beavers
Bemidji State is hovering around .500 with a 14-16 record this season. The team is 1-5 in conference play with an 8-4 win over SMSU. Last week the Beavers played just two games against Minnesota Duluth. BSU lost both games to the Bulldogs.
Mariah Stevenson is the best hitter on the team, with a .337 average, a .784 OPS, six doubles, a triple and 16 RBI. She has a team-leading 34 hits in 2025.
Starting pitcher, Kennedy Joachim, has an 8-5 record this season with a 2.10 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. She has struck out 99 batters in 86.2 innings of work. She has allowed 26 earned runs and opposing batters hit .249 off her.
Jordan Peterson is the third-year head coach leading Bemidji State softball. She is the 20th head coach in program history.
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