Softball returns to action against Bemidji State, Viterbo

Thursday, February 28

St. Cloud, Minn.

4 p.m.

St. Cloud State

Bemidji State University

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

2/28/2019 11:19:00 AM | Softball

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – It's been a long 25 days for the St. Cloud State University softball team. Since opening the season with the Kelly Laas Invite on Friday February 1, the Huskies have been idle, waiting to take the field in game day action. Well, the wait is finally over. After 25 days, St. Cloud State is back and ready for some action as the team hosts Bemidji State and Viterbo University over the upcoming weekend.

The Huskies nonconference doubleheader against the Beavers is slotted to start at 4 p.m. on Thursday, February 28, while Saturday's doubleheader against V-Hawks is slated to begin at 11 a.m. Live stats and video will be available for both doubleheaders and live score updates can be found on St. Cloud State softball's official Twitter page (@SCSUHUSKIES_SB).

LISTEN TO KVSC INTERVIEW WITH COACH PAULA U'REN AND CASSIE FRANCESCONI

Here are the five things to know before the Huskies retake the field in softball action:

3 – St. Cloud State opened the season by going 3-1 at the Kelly Laas Invite, nabbing wins over the University of Nebraska-Kearney and UW-Parkside. In fact, the Huskies one loss came at the hands of Missouri Western State in a high scoring affair. Though St. Cloud State tallied 11 hits and eight runs in the game, the team came up short against the Griffins, as four fielding errors results in a 9-8 loss for the Huskies.

.800/1.400/.846 – First year shortstop Raven Vanden Langenberg (Seymour, Wis. / Seymour) was named the first Northern Sun Intercollegiate (NSIC) Softball Player of the Week after an outstanding rookie debut at the Kelly Laas Invite. In three games for the Huskies, Vanden Langenberg went 8-10 at the plate to compile a team-leading .800 batting average and reached base in 12 of her 13 plate appearances in the tournament (.846 OBP). Her power numbers were equally as impressive, as the leadoff hitter accumulated three doubles and a home run over the weekend for a team and conference-leading slugging percentage of 1.400.

34 – St. Cloud State's offense may be one of its most potent in years, as the team scored 34 runs in four games during the Kelly Laas Invite. The majority of those runs came in the sixth inning, as the Huskies scored 11 runs in the penultimate inning of the first four games of the season. Additionally, St. Cloud State scored eight runs in the second inning, five in the fourth and seven in the fifth in its first four games of 2019.

4 – Thursday's doubleheader between the Huskies and Beavers will be the first of two meetings between the two teams this season. While the two games will count as nonconference games towards the teams' overall records, St. Cloud State and Bemidji State will officially meet in NSIC play on April 2 in Bemidji, Minnesota. That is, if Mother Nature cooperates and let's Minnesotans experience spring.

12 - After Saturday's doubleheader against Viterbo, the Huskies will embark on their journey to Clermont, Florida, where they will play in 12 games over the course of six days.