Softball to face Winona State in opening round of NSIC tournament

ROCHESTER, MINN. - It's playoff time. A time the St. Cloud State University softball team thought may never come. After having the 2020 season cancelled due to COVID-19, the Huskies headed back to the conference tournament, as they begin play in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Tournament on Thursday, May 13 at the RYFSA Complex in Rochester, Minnesota.

St. Cloud State earned the No. 6 seed in the NSIC Tournament in the final weekend of the regular season, as the Huskies went 3-1 in their final weekend of conference play. Entering May 8, St. Cloud State sat in ninth in the NSIC standings but jumped all the way to sixth with its sweep of Northern State Sunday afternoon. This means the team will open the NSIC Tournament against No. 3 seed Winona State University at 12 p.m. on Thursday, May 13.

There was no doubt Winona State would appear in the NSIC tournament, as it clinched a top-3 seed in the tournament in early May. This is new territory for the Warriors, however, as they've been a top-2 seed in the NSIC tournament the last three seasons and were the No. 1 seed in both 2018 and 2019. In fact, Winona State won its fourth and fifth NSIC regular season titles those two seasons and additionally won the NSIC Tournament title in 2018.

The NSIC Tournament will take place May 13-15 at the RYFSA Softball Complex in Rochester, Minnesota. Games will officially begin on Thursday at 10 p.m., weather pending, at Fields A and B. St. Cloud State's game is slated to take place on Field B after the conclusion of the game between Southwest Minnesota State and Northern State. The tournament will follow a double elimination format with a winners and losers bracket. Should the Huskies defeat the Warriors on Thursday, they will advance in the winners bracket to face the winner of Minnesota State-Mankato versus the 7/8/9 seed on Friday. If St. Cloud State loses to Winona State, it will fall into the losers bracket and will play a second game at 4 p.m. on Thursday to keep its season alive.

Fans will be allowed to attend NSIC Tournament games in person but must adhere to the spectator procedures of the RYFSA complex. All fans must self-apply appropriate health screenings prior to arriving at the facility and are expected to remain home if they exhibit any symptoms of COVID-19. Additionally, all spectators must wear a mask at the RYFSA Complex unless actively eating or drinking, and must practice social distancing guidelines at all times. Fans will also be asked to sign in at the main gate for contact tracing. Any individual that fails to uphold these protocols will be escorted from the facility and not provided re-entry for the duration of the tournament.

Day and tournament passes will be available for purchase at the main gate of the complex. Tournament passes are $30 for adults and $20 for students, while single day passes are priced at $15 for adults and $10 for students. Children under the age of five get in free. Gates will open no earlier than one hour before the first scheduled games of the day.

All games of the NSIC Tournament will be streamed via the NSIC Network and live stats will be available throughout the tournament at either www.winonastatewarriors.com (Field B) or www.scsuhuskies.com (Field A).

Here are the five things to know before the NSIC tournament:

3 - The Warriors were one of only three teams to sweep the Huskies in NSIC play and the last to do so. Winona State defeated St. Cloud State by scores of 5-4 and 3-1 back on April 24 on a deceivingly sunny yet frigid day at Selke Field. In fact, the Huskies led 4-1 in game one thanks to home runs by Jasmin Estrada (Litchfield, Minn. / Litchfield) and Raven Vanden Langenberg (Seymour, Wis. / Seymour) before a four run sixth inning by the Warriors resulted in a 5-4 victory. St. Cloud State also led in game two thanks to another Estrada home run, her second of the day, but lost 3-1 due to a seventh inning rally by Winona State.

23/18 - The road to Saturday will not be easy for the Huskies, as they could face two of the nations top-25 teams in their first two games of the NSIC tournament. Should St. Cloud State beat No. 23 Winona State on Thursday, it could face either No. 18 Minnesota State or a slew of teams, including Southwest Minnesota State, Sioux Falls and/or Minot State. The Huskies split their series with the Mavericks earlier this season, falling 8-0 in six innings in game two before rebounding with a 6-1 win in game two. Augustana is also nationally ranked, as the Vikings earned the No. 1 ranking in the nation earlier this week.

4 - This will be St. Cloud State's fourth consecutive trip to the conference tournament, as the team qualified in 2017, 2018 and 2019 before the 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This makes the senior class of Maya Keating (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton-Warrensville), Cassie Francesconi (Schomberg, Ontario / Emily Carr Secondary School), Megan Conrads (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville South) and Emma Murphy (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) the first in program history to qualify for the NSIC tournament four consecutive years and every year of their playing careers (minus the pesky COVID year).

3 - Last time the Huskies qualified for the NSIC tournament, they advanced all the way to championship Saturday, posting a 3-2 record to technically finish third in the tournament. After opening the tournament with 6-5 loss to Minnesota State, St. Cloud State won three consecutive games in the losers bracket, earning the right to face Winona State with a trip to the championship on the line. The Warriors were victorious, ending the Huskies run with a 4-2 victory, but St. Cloud State's season wasn't over, as the team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Regional the following Monday.

.500 - The Huskies were exactly .500 in neutral site games this season, though they played significantly fewer neutral games than in past years. Due to travel rules and the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Cloud State was unable to make its annual trip to Florida for the spring games, and instead played in the Hy-Vee Classic, hosted by Western Missouri. Even then, the Huskies experienced complications, as inclement weather changed the entire format of the tournament, and St. Cloud State was forced to play two teams, Central Missouri and Northeastern State, over a weekend in Warrensburg, Missouri. The Huskies split their series against the RiverHawks, which accounts for their 1-1 record in nonconference play, and were swept by the Jennies, who are now receiving votes in the NFCA poll.