SIOUX FALLS – Briefly returning to their home field, University of Sioux Falls Softball will host Concordia-St. Paul for a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 18 at 2 p.m. at Sherman Park. The Cougars (23-20, 10-8 NSIC) are returning from a four-game trip to North Dakota where they finished with a 2-2 record. After their mid-week twinbill, USF heads to St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth for doubleheaders on April 22 and 23, respectively.
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Cougars bounce back with sweep of U-Mary to finish weekend road trip 2-2
After a day of cold bats against Minot State that led to two losses, Sioux Falls responded with an offensive eruption against U-Mary to sweep their second doubleheader for a 2-2 record on the road swing. USF managed just nine hits between their two games at Minot State, suffering 5-1 and 4-2 losses against the Beavers. On Saturday, the Cougar bats came alive and they took advantage of some U-Mary miscues to sweep the Marauders. Sioux Falls scored five runs in the sixth inning with
Sydney Nieveen and
Ashley Meyer each driving in two runs in the 6-5 win. In game two, six different Cougars recorded two or more hits, including three-hit performances from Nieveen and
Kenna Heath, and USF tallied 16 base knocks for an 8-6 win.
Breanna Black came on in relief of both games to record two save, pushing her league-leading total to six in 2017.
Series history: USF leads 8-2
With five straight victories in the series, Sioux Falls has stretched their lead over Concordia-St. Paul to 8-2 since joining the NSIC and beginning regular competition with the Golden Bears in 2012-13. In NSIC regular season games, USF is 7-1 against CSP and they already have a nonconference victory over the Golden Bears this season with a thrilling 6-5 extra-inning win in St. Cloud, Minn. At home, the Cougars are 3-1, suffering their only loss, a 2-0 defeat, in their first year of Division II competition. Last season, USF rolled to 9-3 and 6-0 victories with
Breanna Black and
Kerrigan Hoshaw earning victories and Black picking up a save in game two.
Nieveen sparks lineup after earning a spot back in the lineup
After a sluggish start to begin conference play, sophomore
Sydney Nieveen has broken out over the past two weeks. Finding a way on the bases in numerous ways, Nieveen leads the Cougars with a .450 on-base percentage, which ranks ninth in the NSIC. The 15 times she's been hit by a pitch is second in the league and tops on USF. Inserted into the starting lineup for game two against MSU Moorhead on April 7, Nieveen has driven her batting average up 55 points from .282 to her current .337. She has gone 13-for-26 at the plate with four multi-hit games in that span.
