Softball opens NSIC Tournament against Minnesota-Duluth

ST. CLOUD, MINN. - The St. Cloud State University softball team is headed back to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) tournament. After a 20+ win season in NSIC play, the Huskies earned the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament and will face conference rival Minnesota-Duluth in their opening game on Thursday, May 5.

The NSIC Conference Tournament will run May 5-7 at the Rochester Youth Fastpitch Softball Association (RYFSA) Complex in Rochester, Minnesota. As the No. 4 seed, St. Cloud State will open its tournament run against the No. 5 seeded Bulldogs at 12:00 p.m. on Field A on Thursday, May 5. Should the Huskies win, they will advance to the winners bracket to face either top-seeded Augustana or the lowest seed remaining in the tournament at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, May 6. If St. Cloud State loses, the team will face either Sioux Falls or SMSU at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.

The NSIC Tournament will take place May 5-7 at the RYFSA Complex in Rochester, Minnesota with games officially starting at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, weather permitting. 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 $15 for adults and $10 for students. Children under the age of five get in free. Gates will open no earlier than one hour prior to the first scheduled games of the day.

Live stats and video will be available for the entirety of the NSIC Tournament, and score updates will be made on the team's Twitter account (@SCSUHUSKIES_SB). Field A stats will be available at www.scsuhuskies.com and Field B stats can be found on www.winonastatewarriors.com.

Here are the five things to know before the Huskies return to Rochester, Minnesota:

5 - The Huskies will make their fifth consecutive trip to the NSIC Tournament this weekend, as the team has qualified every year since 2017 (not counting the canceled 2020 season). St. Cloud State does so after a historic season, in which the team set the program record for conference wins with 23 total. The Huskies did not record their highest finish in the conference standings, however. While St. Cloud State closed the season with a 23-7 NSIC record, its best since rejoining the conference in 2009, the team finished fourth in the NSIC standings, while the 2019 team finished third with a record of 22-8.

35 - Few first year coaches had as impressive a debut as Mitch Roberts. In his first season at the helm, Roberts led the Huskies to a 35-16 overall record and a 23-7 mark in NSIC play. Along with his assistant coach Ali Nowak, St. Cloud State broke the program record for conference wins and single-season home runs, tallying 58 total during the regular season. Only one coach had a better debut in the history of the program: recent retiree Paula U'Ren, who posted a 42-14 record in her first season with the Huskies.

3 - The last two trips to the NSIC Tournament have gone well for St. Cloud State, as the team has advanced to Championship Saturday in both 2019 and 2021. It wasn't the easiest trip for the Huskies in 2019, as they had to battle back through the losers bracket for a chance to play #6 Winona State on the final day in Rochester. St. Cloud State fared better in 2021. After an upset of the #21 Warriors, the Huskies advanced to the winners bracket for the first time in multiple trips but lost to Minnesota State in the second round. St. Cloud State rallied with a 7-6 win over Sioux Falls and faced Winona State on Championship Saturday for the second consecutive season, eventually falling by a final score of 4-0.

3 - This will be the third meeting between the Huskies and Bulldogs this season and first since the conference opener on March 29. After a site reversal allowed St. Cloud State to host Minnesota-Duluth at home, the Huskies earned a key sweep to open NSIC play, beating the Bulldogs by final scores of 5-2 and 8-4. Jasmin Estrada (Litchfield, Minn. / Litchfield) went 7-8 at the plate in the series, scoring two runs and tallying three RBI, while Trinity Junker (Lindstrom, Minn. / Chisago Lakes) and Emma Eickoff (Becker, Minn. / Becker) earned wins in the circle.

12 - St. Cloud State has some momentum entering the tournament. The Huskies closed the regular season with an impressive 8-1 win over #12 Augustana Monday afternoon, securing their historic 23-7 record in NSIC play. St. Cloud State launched five home runs by five different student-athletes in the victory, including Estrada, Haley McFarlane (Swisher, Iowa / Cedar Rapids Prairie), Lydia Krueger (Appleton, Wis. / Appleton North), Holly Weinberger (Waconia, Minn. / Waconia) and Sydney Trees (Prior Lake, Minn. / Prior Lake). Entering the tournament, the Huskies are the only team in the NSIC that beat both the Vikings and Minnesota State during the regular season.