Softball resumes play at Washburn Invite

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – Two weeks can pass by in the blink of an eye. For 12 days, the St. Cloud State University softball team has been idle, waiting to return to play after opening the season with a pristine 5-0 record at the Kelly Laas Invite. After waiting and waiting and waiting, the wait is finally over, as the Huskies resume action at the Washburn Invite, hosted by Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas this weekend.

St. Cloud State will play five regional games in three days this weekend, facing some of the top competition in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Friday through Sunday. The Huskies will open their tournament run on Friday, February 28 when they face the University of Nebraska-Kearney at 1 p.m. in Topeka, Kansas. In the ensuing days, St. Cloud State will additionally face Pittsburg State, Emporia State, Central Missouri and Fort Hayes before returning to Minnesota.

Live stats will occasionally be available for the Huskies games, depending on availability, field resources and, as always, a cooperative version of Mother Nature. Score updates will be made to the team's official Twitter page (@SCSUHUSKIES_SB) when available.

Here are the five things to know before St. Cloud State softball resumes action this weekend:

5-0 – Thanks to outstanding performances at the Kelly Laas Invite, the Huskies opened the 2020 season with a perfect 5-0 record. It marked the first time since 2017 St. Cloud State opened the year with an unblemished record, and the team will look to keep that streak alive in Kansas this upcoming weekend. It won't be an easy task, though, as the Huskies are set to face five of the top teams in the MIAA.

1-3 – In fact, last year, St. Cloud State entered the Emporia State University Spring Classic riding a similar streak. The Huskies ended their spring break trip with a 5-0 record, leaving head coach Paula U'Ren just one win away from No. 700 in her career. It took St. Cloud State three games to notch No. 700 for U'Ren, as the team dropped three-straight to Pittsburg State, Emporia and Central Missouri before defeating Washburn in the final game of the tournament.

34 – Runs were not hard to come by for the Huskies at the Kelly Laas Invite, as they scored 34 over the course of five games to average approximately 6.8 runs per game. Leading the way in run production was Jasmin Estrada (Litchfield, Minn. / Litchfield), who tallied a team-leading five RBIs over the weekend while hitting .467 with seven hits in 15 at bats. Megan Conrads (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville South) was the top run scorer at the Kelly Laas Invite, as she scored a team-leading six runs over the course of five games.

.64 – While St. Cloud State didn't struggle to score runs at the Kelly Laas Invite, the team's opponents struggled to score runs of their own. The Husky pitchers posted an earned run average (ERA) of .64 during the course of the tournament, allowing just three runs in 33 innings of work. Sophomore ace Sydney LaPoint (Green Bay, Wis. / Bay Port) was especially dominant, as she did not surrender a single run in seven total innings of work.

3.60 – The Huskies runners are once again not to be messed with. During the Kelly Laas Invite, St. Cloud State stole an average of 3.60 bases a game, which currently ranks fifth in the nation and second in the NSIC behind Minot State. In fact, the Huskies were a perfect 18-18 on stolen bases during the tournament, as Maya Keating (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton-Warrensville) led the way with four total over the course of the weekend.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Megan Conrads

Jasmin Estrada

Maya Keating

Sydney LaPoint

Saint Cloud State University Athletics