SIOUX FALLS – Opening the 2018 season, University of Sioux Falls heads to St. Cloud, Minn. for the Kelly Laas Memorial tournament on Feb. 23 and 24. The Cougars are set to face four Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association teams in two days.
 
Kelly Laas Memorial Schedule
Friday, Feb. 23
    vs. Missouri Western, 1:30 p.m., LIVE STATS
    vs. Nebraksa-Kearney, 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 24
    vs. Southwest Baptist, 7 a.m.
    vs. Southwest Baptist, 9 a.m.
    vs. Fort Hays State, 3:30 p.m.

Scouting the competition
USF has the opportunity to pick up big region wins against four MIAA teams this weekend. In their season opener, Sioux Falls takes on Missouri Western, who owns a 3-9 record after dropping two games in a doubleheader to defending NSIC champion Minnesota State last weekend. Wrapping up the first day, USF faces Nebraska-Kearney, who enters the weekend with a 2-6 record. The Cougars open Saturday with a doubleheader against Southwest Baptist, who are 1-7 and on a four-game losing streak. Closing their time in St. Cloud, USF squares off with Fort Hays State on Saturday afternoon, and the Tigers enter the weekend with a 2-10 record, dropping their last five games.
 
Cougars picked fifth in NSIC preseason poll
After winning 30 games and making the NSIC Tournament for the fourth straight season, USF Softball has established themselves as a contender in the league. In this season's NSIC preseason coaches' poll, the Cougars were slotted fifth, collecting 157 points in the poll. Three teams split the 16 first place votes with Winona State earning 11 first-place votes and the top spot at 221 points. Augustana collected two first-place nods and second with 206 points. Defending national champion Minnesota State was slotted third with the remaining three first-place votes and 202 points. The fifth-place billing for USF is the second-highest they have been picked in the preseason poll after a fourth-place projection in the 2016 poll and tied with last season's fifth-place ranking.
 
Returning All-NSIC players Nieveen and Hoshaw named players to watch
In the NSIC preseason release, USF's Sydney Nieveen and Kerrigan Hoshaw were named NSIC players to watch. Nieveen earned All-NSIC second team honors as a first baseman last season and Hoshaw received an All-NSIC first-team appointment as an offensive player, but was named the Cougars' pitcher to watch in the preseason release.
 
A sophomore from Lincoln, Neb., Nieveen fit seamlessly into the Cougars' lineup last season and began to flourish later in the season. She led the Cougars with a .454 on-base percentage and was second with a .355 batting average. Nieveen was second on the team with 12 doubles and was near-perfect in the field with a .986 fielding percentage on 359 opportunities.
 
A junior from Apple Valley, Minn., Hoshaw returns as the Cougars' workhorse in the circle, pitching a team-high 153 innings and she led the Cougars with 14 wins last year. She finished the season with 106 strikeouts and a 3.80 earned run average. In her sophomore season, Hoshaw also made history in the circle, recording the first perfect game in USF's Division II as she retired all 15 Concordia-St. Paul batters she faced in a five-inning, 8-0 victory. On offense, Hoshaw led the Cougars with a .367 batting average and .698 slugging percentage, and team highs in homeruns (11) and runs batted in (41).
 
Senior class making history, primed for big season
USF's three-Cougar senior class of Breanna Black, Megan Peterson and Jasmine Ragusi are primed to lead Sioux Falls to their fifth 30-win season. Four-year Cougars Black and Peterson have led the Cougars to 96 wins over the last three seasons and three consecutive NSIC postseason berths. Ragusi joined the Cougars last season after a standout career at Kirkwood Community College and she made an immediate impact for USF with 57 starts in 2017. A versatile asset for the Cougars last season, Black played in 53 games, made 38 starts and 41 appearances as a pitcher. She has made 95 appearances in the lineup for USF and 114 in the circle, owning a 43-29 record as a pitcher with 10 career saves. Peterson is closing in on the Cougars' Division II era record for games played in a career. She has made 161 appearances, including 151 starts, owning a career .232 batting average and .271 on-base percentage, while serving as a mainstay for the Cougar outfield with a .939 career fielding percentage. Ragusi made her impact for Sioux Falls on offense with a .330 batting average and .520 slugging percentage aided by a team-high 14 doubles and six homeruns. In the field, Ragusi rotated in as a catcher with 38 appearances behind the plate and a .984 fielding percentage.
 
Leader of the pride
Entering her fifth season as head coach of the University of Sioux Falls Softball program, Kelsey Thompson has won at least 30 games in each of her seasons at USF. Overall, Thompson owns a 126-88 record, including a 66-51 record in the NSIC. She has led the Cougars to four consecutive NSIC Tournament berths, including a third-place finish in 2016. Thompson has coached players to 12 All-NSIC appointments and the Cougars' first Division II All-American in Shannon Daly in 2016.