SIOUX FALLS – Earning their fourth consecutive bid to the conference tournament, University of Sioux Falls Softball received the No. 7 seed and is set to face in-state foe and No. 10 seed Northern State in the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament on Thursday, May 4 at 10 a.m. at Sherman Park. Sioux Falls will play a second game on Thursday, facing No. 2 seed Winona State at 2 p.m. at Sherman Park with a win or the loser of No. 4 Minnesota Duluth and No. 5 St. Cloud State at 4 p.m. at Bowden Field if the Cougars lose their first round game. USF and Augustana are serving as hosts for the NSIC Tournament, and all games will be played at Sherman Park or Augustana's Bowden Field.
 
Follow the Cougars at the NSIC Tournament
Stay up to date with all USF Athletics and USF Softball with the USF Social Media Directory, to follow all USF Athletics programs on twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Every NSIC Tournament game will be streamed and available to watch online through Stretch Internet and USF's games will still be available at USFCougars.com/watch. Live stats will be available at either USF or Augustana's live stats URL depending on the host field for whichever game. The USF Softball Schedule will have the direct link to live stats for each corresponding game.
 
USF sweeps Bemidji State in thrilling fashion to secure NSIC Tournament bid
After dropping two games at crosstown rival Augustana and splitting with Minnesota Crookston in their penultimate doubleheader of the season, USF Softball seized their opportunity with a sweep of Bemidji State to clinch their fourth consecutive bid to the NSIC Tournament. The Cougars scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth of game one and Kerrigan Hoshaw tossed a complete game shutout to lead USF to a 3-0 win. In game two, the Cougars trailed by two runs heading to the bottom of the sixth before they rallied to score four, led by Kenna Heath's go-ahead two-RBI double. Breanna Black tossed three shutout innings to earn the win for USF, sealing the 6-4 victory.
 
Tournament history
Playing in their fourth NSIC Tournament in as many years, USF looks to for another successful postseason stint. Heading into their first game, USF owns a 4-6 record in the NSIC Tournament. In their first postseason tournament as Division II members, Sioux Falls dropped a pair of two-run games as the No. 5 seed in 2014. Making their return in 2015, the Cougars made a run to the final day of the tournament finishing fourth after a narrow loss to Minnesota State. The Cougars nearly knocked off eventual champion Winona State in their second round game, but fell 4-2. USF responded on the second day with a commanding 9-1 win over St. Cloud State, their second victory over SCSU in the tournament, then used a shutout from Breanna Black to move past Wayne State, 2-0, and into the final day of competition. Last season, the Cougars dropped their tournament opener to Southwest Minnesota State before trouncing Wayne State, 11-1, in an elimination game. On day two, the Cougars again fell victim to the SMSU Mustangs, ending their season with a  4-2 loss.
 
Series histories
While it's only certain that the Cougars will play Northern State in their first game, below are the series records for USF against the other nine teams in the NSIC Tournament as well as the records against them in games played in the conference tournament. 
 
No. 1 Minnesota State: 1-10, 0-1 in NSIC Tourney
No. 2 Winona State: 1-11, 0-1 in NSIC Tourney
No. 3 Augustana: 1-7, 0-0 in NSIC Tourney
No. 4 Minnesota Duluth: 3-7, 0-0 in NISC Tourney
No. 5 St. Cloud State: 8-4, 2-0 in NSIC Tourney
No. 6 Bemidji State: 8-0, 0-0 in NSIC Tourney
No. 8 Southwest Minnesota State: 7-5, 0-2 in NSIC Tourney
No. 9 Minot State: 4-6, 0-0 in NSIC Tourney
No. 10 Northern State: 4-6, 0-0 in NSIC Tourney