St. Cloud State Softball to finish 2018 regular season on April 27-28

The regionally ranked St. Cloud State University softball team (32-15, 18-8 NSIC) will wrap up its 2018 regular season with a pair of home doubleheaders on Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29. These will be the first games of the season that SCSU will play outdoors at historic Selke Field since all of SCSU's other home dates this season have been played in the Husky Dome due to the late winter weather this year.

On Saturday, April 28, SCSU will match up against NSIC opponent Augustana (34-10, 16-4 NSIC) at 1 p.m. The weekend will wrap-up at Selke Field with a 1 p.m. date against NSIC rival Wayne State (15-26, 9-13 NSIC).

The game on April 28 has been designated as Senior Day for the Huskies and the day will be highlighed by a special "senior salute" to Huskies' shortstop Libby Bingham, the team's lone senior in 2018.

Admission to both games at Selke Field is free. If you are not able to attend the games in person this weekend, fans can follow all the action at the links listed below:

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ST. CLOUD STATE SOFTBALL NEWS AND NOTES:

The Huskies earned a #8 ranking in this week's NCAA DII Central Region poll released on April 25. The NSIC dominates the regional poll, which includes #1 ranked Winona State, #2 Southern Arkansas, #3 Minnesota Duluth, #4 Augustana, #5 Arkansas Tech, #6 Minnesota State, #7 Washburn, #9 Concordia St. Paul and #10 Northern State. Of note, the top eight ranked teams in the regional poll will receive bids to the NCAA tournament this spring.
The Huskies have already posted 32 wins this season, which equals last year's record of 32-23. This is the 13th time during the Paula U'Ren era at SCSU that the Huskies have won 30-plus games in a season. The Huskies' record for most wins in a season was a 46-16 record in 2003. SCSU will be looking to surpass its 35 win total in 2008 (35-21) and 34 in 2005 (34-25).
Kate Kopeck was named the NSIC Pitcher of the Week on April 25. Kopeck posted a 2-0 record and a save in 15 innings of work last week, which saw the Huskies gain a win over Minnesota State Moorhead along with back-to-back doubleheader sweeps against Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls. She starter her week with a completed game 1-0 win at SMSU on April 22, which included eight strikeouts and five hits allowed. She then added a complete game shutout in an 8-0 win at USF on April 23. Kopeck had three strikeouts and allowed just four hits in the game. To cap the week, Kopeck scored a save in SCSU's 5-4 victory over USF in game two on April 23. On the week, Kopeck gained a 0.00 ERA while allowing just 10 hits and posting a total of 11 strikeouts in three appearances. She is now 12-6 this year with a team-leading 86 strikeouts.
Morgan Emmans

Catcher Morgan Emmans leads SCSU with 19 doubles in 2018. She is closing in on the team record for most doubles in a season, which was set by Lisa Rosauer with 21 in 1998. As a team. SCSU has 80 doubles this season and the team record of 93 doubles was set in 1998.
Senior Libby Bingham will be saluted on Senior Day - April 28 at Selke Field. Bingham is an elementary education major at SCSU and has been a three-year starter at shortstop for the Huskies. She has played and started in 157 consecutive career games and is a 3X Academic All-NSIC award winner for the Huskies.
Emmans also paces the Huskies this spring with 99 total bases, 10 home runs, 56 RBIs, 38 runs and a .668 slugging percentage.
Maya Keating has been a force for the Huskies at second base this spring with a team leading .395 batting average. She leads the team with 60 hits this year. Did you know that Abby Velta currently owns the team record for most hits in a season with 83 in 2003.
The Huskies have enjoyed pitching excellence from a trio of starters in 2018. Bradi Yost is 8-1 this year with a 1.41 ERA, while Kylie Thomsen is 12-7 with a 3.45 ERA for the Huskies. Kopeck is back pitching for SCSU too and has a 3.70 ERA for the Huskies. As a team, SCSU owns a 3.23 ERA with a total of 163 strikeouts.
SCSU has clinched a spot in the NSIC playoffs for the second consecutive season under the direction of head coach Paula U'Ren. Results from this weekend's games will help determine the final seeding for the NSIC tournament, which will be held on May 3-5 in Sioux Falls, S.D. at Bowden and Sherman Parks. SCSU has advanced to the NSIC tournament in 2017, 2015 and 2013. Back in the day, SCSU won the North Central Conference tournament championship in 2004, 2003 and 1998.
On the topic of the postseason, SCSU has made eight NCAA regional tournament appearances and it also advanced to the NCAA finals in 2004 (3rd place that season after winning the NCAA regional that year). SCSU has earned NCAA tournament bids in 2004, 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1991 and 1989.

NSIC Tournament Information: May 3-5, 2018 in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The 2018 NSIC Softball Tournament bracket fields the top ten teams in the final regular season standings. They will participate in the double-elimination tournament, which will be held May 3-5 at Bowden Field & Sherman Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The winner of the NSIC Softball Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament. The 42-team central region is made up of teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Great American Conference (GAC). Automatic bids are awarded to the tournament champions from each conference with the final five spots awarded on an at-large basis. In all, eight teams will advance to the NCAA Regional Tournament on May 11-13, with the top two seeds in the region hosting.
The NCAA softball selections will be announced on www.NCAA.com on Monday, May 7 at 9 a.m. (CT). The NCAA Championships are set for May 24-28 at Moy