St. Cloud State Softball Opens 2023 Season in Annual Kelly Laas Invitational

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - The St. Cloud State softball is back and ready for action. The Huskies will open their 2023 in the annual Kelly Laas Invitational February 11-12 hosted in the Husky Dome in St. Cloud, MN. The Huskies will play four games over the weekend, opening with UMary followed by Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth.

Saturday's first game against UMary will kick-off at 10:00 a.m. followed by a game against Bemidji State at 12:30 p.m. On Sunday, the Huskies will once again take on UMary at 10:00 a.m. with the last game of the invitational at 5:30 p.m. against Minnesota Duluth. The NSIC Network will provide the game streams while live stats can be found on the SCSU softball schedule page.

2023 KELLY LAAS INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE
Saturday, Feb. 11:
10:00 a.m. - UMary vs SCSU
12:30 p.m. - BSU vs SCSU
3:00 p.m. - UMary vs UMD
5:30 p.m. - BSU vs UMD

Sunday, Feb. 12:
10:00 a.m. - UMary vs SCSU
12:30 p.m. - BSU vs UMary
3:00 p.m. - BSU vs UMD
5:30 p.m. - UMD vs SCSU

Location: Husky Dome - St. Cloud, MN

LOOKING BACK
St. Cloud State finished fourth in the NSIC last season, going 36-18 with a 23-7 record in conference play to finish just outside the regional pool. The Huskies pitching crew shut out teams 12 times last season which tied them with Winona State for third in the NSIC. For the first time since 2003, St. Cloud surpassed its previous single season home run record of 51, smashing an impressive 60 home runs over the fence. The lineup slashed .295/.367/.469 for a .836 OPS, ranking third across the NSIC in home, fourth in slugging and fifth in OPS. St. Cloud State was extremely efficient on the basepaths, stealing the fifth-most bases at a league-best 95.5% success rate. Sydney Tree broke the program record with 17 home runs and was one of three Huskies alongside Raven Vanden Langenberg and Haley McFarlane to post OPS marks north of 1.000. Defensively, SCSU ranked fifth in the NSIC with a .968 fielding percentage while Holly Weinberger and Brooke Bowlin won a Gold Glove. Raven Vanden Lagenberg and Trinity Junker were named to the All-NSIC Selections First-Time while Jasmin Estrada and Sydney Trees were named to the Second-Team.

ST. CLOUD STATE HUSKIES
St. Cloud was selected to finish in a tie for third with Winona State in the 2023 NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll. SCSU collected 187 points with three first place votes. The Huskies will return a bulk of their lineup as NSIC Pitcher to Watch Lauren Kirchberg, staff ace Trinity Junker, and promising No. 2 starter and true sophomore Emma Eickhoff will anchor the circle. Last season, Junker posted a 19-6 record through 163.2 innings pitched with an 1.63 ERA, 163 strikeouts, and ten shutouts. Jasmin Estrada, Sydney Tree, and Raven Vanden Langeberg are key returning position players. Vanden Langeberg slashed an .361/.586/.468 while Trees posted .351/.707/.392 in 2022. Additionally, Tree smashed 17 homeruns over the fence setting a program record. Kaitlyn Istvanovich and Josey Marquette will be the pairing protecting the plate while Holly Weinberger, Tenley Quesnell, and Sophie Culhane will round out the defensive corps in the outfield.

A crew of new faces will join the line including two time All-NSIC honoree Jamie Odlum. Odlum spent the past four seasons at Minot State where she played in 152 games, slashing .391/.476/.543 for a 1.019 OPS while producing 34 doubles, nine triples, five home runs and 86 RBIs.

SCOUTING UMARY
UMary enters the weekend with three games under their belt opening their season 1-2 after finishing 7-37 a season ago. The Marauders took part in the Minot Dome Tournament where they fell 17-6 against Minot State (Feb. 4) and 17-12 against Valley City State (Feb. 4). The next day Mary bounced backed 6-1 against Carroll College (Feb. 5). Red-shirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Emari Evans and sophomore outfielder Erin Murphy were named the Marauders' Preseason Pitcher and Player to Watch for 2023. In her first season with UMary, Evans recorded 28 strikeouts with an ERA of 12.35. As a true freshman, Murphy collected 33 hits in 79 at bats for a .418 batting average along with a .882 OBP.

In three games the Marauders are led by senior infielder Devyn Ritz who is averaging .625 at the plate. In eight at bats, Ritz has five hits, three runs, and one RBI with a .65 SLG% and an .727 OBP. Senior catcher Brooke McClure is averaging .500 at the plate with four hits, two runs, and one RBI in eight at bats. The Marauders are under the leadership of head coach Dre Frantz who is in her second season with UMary. Additionally, Frantz is a UMary alumni and is one of the most decorated scholar-athletes in the history of University of Mary softball. UMary was selected to finish 15th in a tie with MSU Moorhead in the 2023 NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll.

St. Cloud State and UMary will meet for the 38th and 39th time over the weekend since the two teams first met in 1997. The Huskies hold the all-time series advantage of 23-15 over the Marauders with the last meeting being a doubleheader in the 2022 season where the Huskies took both games, 8-5 and 3-2 on April 2nd.

SCOUTING BEMIDJI STATE
Bemidji State will open their 2023 season at the Kelly Laas Invitational against St. Cloud State. BSU finished 11-39 overall, 8-22 in conference play a season ago. Left-handed junior pitcher Stella Dolan and sophomore infielder Mariah Stevenson were named the Beavers' Preseason Pitcher and Player to Watch for 2023. Dolan posted a 4.00 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 152.1 innings last season with a career ERA of 3.94 over 202.2 innings. Additionally she has tallied 151 career strikeouts. Stevenson was a standout freshman last season as she led Beavers with a .322 batting averaging and posted a team-high .851 OPS. Additionally, Stevenson appeared in 49 of 50 games with 48 starts with 47 hits, 13 doubles, one triple, two home runs and led with 22 RBIs. The Beavers will enter their second season under the leadership of head coach Jordan Petersen. Bemidji State was selected to finish 12th in the 2023 NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll.

St. Cloud State and Bemidji State will meet for the 86th time in program history since the two teams first saw each other in 1969. The Huskies lead the all-time series 75-10 over the Beavers. In 2022, the two teams met for a doubleheader with the Huskies taking down Bemidji State 1-0 and 6-1 on April 27th.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA DULUTH
Minnesota Duluth's 2023 season is already underway with the Bulldogs opening 4-0 at the Mankato Dome Invite. UMD took down CSP 2-1 (Feb. 3), Northwest Missouri State 9-2 (Feb. 3), Lewis University 5-4 (Feb. 4), and Missouri Western State 8-5 (Feb. 5). Last season Minnesota Duluth finished 39-16 overall, 22-8 in conference play. Junior pitcher Lauren Dixon and senior catcher Sidney Zavoral were named the Bulldogs' Preseason Pitcher and Player to Watch for the Bulldogs. Last season, Dixon posted a 17-9 record through 164.2 innings pitched with 212 strikeouts with an opposing batting average of .219. Zavoral posted a batting average of .338, 31 RBIs, .488 SLG%, and a .400 OBP during the 2022 campaign.

In the four games UMD has played this season, junior outfielder Kat Burkhardt is leading with a .400 at the plate. With 15 at bats, Burkhardt has six hits, drove in two runs, one triple, one homerun, with five RBIs and a .733 SLG%. Head Coach Lynn Anderson is in her second year with the Bulldogs. UMD was selected to finish fifth in the 2023 NSIC Preseason Poll.

The first meeting between St. Cloud State and Minnesota was in 1969. Since then the Bulldogs have held the all-time series advantage of 64-42 over the Huskies. This weekend will mark the 106th matchup between the two teams. The Huskies and the Bulldogs last faced-off in the 2022 NSIC conference tournament where SCSU shutout UMD 1-0 to advance in the tournament.

YEAR TWO
All four coaches participating in the 2023 Kelly Laas Invitational are in their second year as head coaches for their respective programs. UMD' head coach Lynn Anderson and UMary's head coach Dre Frantz will take part in the invitational for the first time while Bemidji State's head coach Jordan Petersen is no stranger as BSU took part in the 2022 invitational.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State softball, stay tuned on scsuhuskies.com and follow the teams on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

St. Cloud State Softball Opens 2023 Season in Annual Kelly Laas Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Brooke Bowlin

Sophie Culhane

Emma Eickhoff

Jasmin Estrada

Kaitlyn Istvanovich

Trinity Junker

Lauren Kirchberg

Josey Marquette

Haley McFarlane

Jamie Odlum

Tenley Quesnell

Sydney Trees

Raven Vanden Langenberg

Holly Weinberger

Saint Cloud State University Athletics