Softball returns to action Saturday against Minot State

ST. CLOUD, MINN. - Anyone else miss the St. Cloud State University softball team as much as we do? After a week long hiatus, the Huskies are returning to action on Saturday, February 27, as they host Minot State University for a nonconference doubleheader at 3 p.m. in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Yes, hosting the Beavers in a nonconference game may be a smidge confusing. Typically, St. Cloud State and Minot State square off early in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play. This season, though, the Huskies get to see an early premiere, so to speak, of the Beavers, as they square off in nonconference play this upcoming Saturday.

The first game of the doubleheader is set to start at 3 p.m. in the Husky Dome in St. Cloud, Minnesota with game two to follow. At this time, St. Cloud State is allowing family members of both teams to attend games in person with a 150 person limit, as regulated by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Communication will be sent out to all attendees no less than 24 hours prior to first pitch.

For those who cannot attend the games in person, live stats and video will be available on the Huskies official website www.scsuhuskies.com. Additionally, score updates will be made to the team's Twitter account (@SCSUHUSKIES_SB) when possible.

Here are the five things to know before first pitch Saturday:

67 - St. Cloud State had no issues scoring in its season opening games at the Kelly Laas Invite. The Huskies scored a combined 67 runs over the course of six games, averaging 11.2 runs per game against the likes of Northwestern (Iowa), Truman State and Viterbo. In fact, St. Cloud State broke the school record for runs scored in a single inning, as the team put 18 on the board in its 30-6 win over the Viterbo V-Hawks. The Huskies were additionally held to under eight runs in just two games over the weekend, their first two of the 2020-21 season.

.733 / 1.267 / 11 / 9 - Senior third baseman Megan Conrads (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville South) played a huge role in St. Cloud State's success in the Kelly Laas invite, as she led the Huskies in four separate stat categories: batting average (.733), slugging (1.267), hits (11) and RBI (9). In six games, Conrads went 11-15 at the plate, accumulating a weekend batting average of .733 with a slugging percentage of 1.267. She additionally scored seven runs, tallied nine RBI and went 4-4 on stolen base attempts. For her performance, Conrads was named the NSIC Player of the Week on February 15, the second weekly conference of her career.

0 - Sydney LaPoint (Green Bay, Wis. / Bay Port) was practically perfect in every way in her lone start of the Kelly Laas Invite, as she pitched a complete game no-hitter to help the Huskies open the season with a perfect 6-0 record. The junior earned her first win of the 2021 season against Truman State, pitching five complete innings while surrendering no runs, no hits and no walks while striking out 10 batters. The no no earned LaPoint NSIC Pitcher of the Week honors the following Monday and became the first St. Cloud State pitcher to throw a no hitter since 2015.

12.0 - LaPoint wasn't the only pitcher to find success in the first two weeks of the season. After she was named the NSIC Pitcher of the Week on February 15, Minot State's Trinity Valentine earned the honor the following week after a flawless pitcher on the mound for the Beavers. The junior posted a 3-0 record over the weekend and posted a 0.00 ERA in games against Northern State, Mary and Bemidji State. Valentine recorded a season-high eight strikeouts in a win over the Wolves, and she allowed just six hits over the course of three starts.

11 - Expect an offensive battle Saturday afternoon and evening, as both St. Cloud State and Minot State are two of the top hitting teams in the NSIC this season. Currently, the Huskies lead the conference in 11 different categories, including team batting average (.455), runs (67), hits (70), home runs (6), RBI (54), total bases (113), slugging (.734), on-base percentage (.514), ERA (1.06), shutouts (5) and batters against average (.172). Of those categories, the Beavers rank second in five of them, including hits (69), RBI (48), total bases (96), slugging (.593), on-base percentage (.497) and shutouts (3).

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Players Mentioned

Megan Conrads

Sydney LaPoint

Saint Cloud State University Athletics