Softball heads to Kansas for Emporia State Classic

Thursday, March 21

Emporia, Kansas

9 a.m.

St. Cloud State

Pittsburg State University

Photo by: Kelsey Whaley

3/20/2019 10:30:00 AM | Softball

EMPORIA, KANSAS – The St. Cloud State University softball team is set to embark on yet another journey to play outside this 2019 season. While the snow continues to hinder central Minnesota, the Huskies will travel to warmer, hopefully not wetter, areas of the nation as they partake in the Emporia State Softball Classic in Emporia, Kansas March 21-22.

St. Cloud State was originally supposed to participate in Missouri Western University's HyVee Classic March 22-24, but weather, as it does in the spring, forced the Huskies as well as 10 other teams from the Central Region to relocate to Kansas. Rather than play five games in three days, St. Cloud State will now play in two games Thursday and two games Friday before returning home to prepare for the team's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) opener against Minnesota-Duluth.

The Huskies will take on Pittsburg State (9 a.m.) and host Emporia State (4:30 p.m.) on Thursday before playing Central Missouri (10 a.m.) and Washburn (12:30 p.m.) in two games on Friday. Live stats will be available during St. Cloud State's game against Emporia State and score updates will be posted to the team's official Twitter page (@SCSUHUSKIES_SB) when available.

Here are the five things to know before the Emporia State Softball Classic:

26.42 – The Huskies were originally supposed to play in the Missouri Western HyVee Classic this weekend, but the tournament was cancelled due to extreme flooding in the St. Joseph, Missouri region. As of 9 a.m., Interstate 29 at the Missouri/Iowa boarder was closed due to the flooding of the Missouri River. Additionally, the river has reached levels of 26.42 feet in St. Joseph, officially reaching the moderate flood stage, and is .58 feet away from reaching the major flood stage of 27 feet. If the weather holds, the Missouri River could reach its official crest level of 28.9 feet on Thursday, resulting in major flooding in the area.

.376 – It was no secret entering the 2019 softball season that St. Cloud State would be one of the top hitting teams in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). What the Huskies didn't know, though, was that they would be one of the top hitting teams in the nation. With 20 games under the team's belt, St. Cloud State has compiled a .376 team batting average, which is the top in the country this season. The Huskies also rank in the top five in several other categories, as their 8.20 runs per game average and .577 team slugging percentage ranks fourth in Division II this season.

1.019 – Morgan Emmans (Blaine, Minn. / Mounds Park Academy) has been one of the heaviest hitters for St. Cloud State all season long, as she leads the team in multiple offensive categories, including slugging percentage (1.019), home runs (7), home runs per game (.35), on base percentage (.551) total bases (54) and runs per game (1.10) this season. However, Emmans doesn't just lead the Huskies in these categories. The senior catcher ranks at the top of the NSIC in home runs, slugging and total bases and holds the No. 4 slugging percentage in the nation this season.

14/17 – It's not just St. Cloud State's offense that has been impressive through the first 20 games of the 2019 season. The Huskies pitchers have also been on fire this season, mowing down batters at an unprecedented rate. Senior ace Kate Kopeck (Lumsden, Minn. / Lumsden) currently ranks 14^th and 17^th in the nation respectively in strikeout-to-walk ratio and strikeouts per seven innings as she's racked up an impressive 66 strikeouts in her 10 appearances this season. First year Sydney LaPoint (Green Bay, Wis / Bay Port) isn't that far behind, as she ranked in the top-40 in Division II in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.00).

699 – Head coach Paula U'Ren is one win away from becoming the first coach in program history to reach the 700 win milestone. Entering her 22^nd season with the Huskies, U'Ren had compiled an overall record of 682-467 and a .594 win percentage, making her also one of the winningest coaches in program history. Thanks to the team's 17-3 start, U'Ren is one win away from 700 and now has an overall record of 699-470.