SIOUX FALLS – The University of Sioux Falls Softball Team, which finished sixth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference a year ago, will open the season on Friday (Feb. 1) with the first of five games this weekend (Feb. 1-3) in Denver, Colo.

How weather looks for opener: While the upper Midwest is facing brutal sub-zero temperatures this week, the weather is expected to improve substantially. On Wednesday, the temperature in Denver was 47 degrees and is expected to be around 54 by the time USF and MSU begin play on Friday (Feb. 1) afternoon. Even in South Dakota, the temperatures are shifting upward with a forecast of 40 by Friday and mid 40s by Saturday.

Cougars open with MSU at 5 pm (MST) Friday – live stats and video streaming available: The Cougars will be part of a three-team pod with Metro State-Denver and Colorado-Colorado Springs at the Regency Athletic Complex at MSU. USF, directed by first-year head coach Shannon Pivovar, begins the season at 5 p.m. (MST) against Metro State. On Saturday (Feb. 2), they will play UCCS (MST) at 2 p.m., and Metro State at 4 p.m. (MST). On Sunday (Feb. 3), the Cougars wrap up play with a noon (MST) game against Metro State and a 2 p.m. (MST), matchup with UCCS. The games will be video streamed live with live stats also available.

Opponents Review - Metro State will face USF in its first game of the season. The Roadrunners were 34-22 a year ago with a 28-12 league mark (fourth RMAC) and picked to finish fifth this season. Annie Van Wetzinga, the RMAC Coach of the Year in 2015, enters her sixth season as head coach of the Roadrunners. In her five seasons as head coach, she has compiled a 333-114 overall record, leading the Roadrunners to three NCAA Tournament appearances, an RMAC regular season championship, and two RMAC Tournament championships. RMAC freshman of the year Koryna Wright, who hit .331 with five home runs and 32 RBI a year ago, will lead the offense which lost three starters in the middle of its order. On the mound, preseason All-RMAC selection Darby McGhee will lead a four-player staff. She was 16-10 a year ago with a 3.56 ERA in 27 starts.

UCCS is also a RMAC member and have been picked to finish seventh in the league. A year ago, the Mountain Lions put together an overall mark of 27-27 and stood 22-18 for fifth in the RMAC.  USF and UCCS will play for the first time.  Ricki Rothbauer-Stubbs a former two-time NCAA Division II All-American at Northern Kentucky, is in her fourth season as the head softball coach. In 2018, Rothbauer and the Mountain Lions found their way back into the RMAC tournament after capturing  twenty-seven wins in the regular season. The team finished with three players in All-RMAC honors and five players named to RMAC All-Academic team while Taylor Reidhead was named to the NFCA All-Region team. The Mountain Lions return seven starters and they include Melissa Martinek, who hit .349 with three home runs and 20 RBI while Rayle Glover hit .313 with 18 RBI and .428 OBP. Reidhead is the top returner on the mound after posting a 14-9 record with a 3.66 ERA in 20 starts a year ago.  She also hit .303 with 11 HR and 42 RBI.

Preseason Forecast – The Cougars, which has had 30 or more wins five straight years, were picked eighth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll which was released Jan. 23 by the league office. USF received 135 points and finished just behind Concordia-St. Paul, which earned 140 points for seventh.The 2019 NSIC Softball Tournament will consist of the top ten teams in the NSIC final standings competing in a double elimination format on May 2-4 at the RYFSA Complex in Rochester, Minnesota.
 
USF returns seven starters from 31-19 squad
A year ago, USF finished 31-19 and 15-9 for sixth in the NSIC in 2018. They will open the conference season against Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minn., on March 26.

Coach Shannon Pivovar has a veteran squad returning with three seniors among seven returning position starters and two key arms back on the mound. Leading USF this year will be a pair of talented performers named "Players to Watch" in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll. Those student-athletes include senior pitcher/designated hitter Kerrigan Hoshaw and junior infielder Sydney Nieveen. Sophomore Ashley Meyer, who had 12 home runs, 44 RBI, .619 slugging mark and a .335 batting average, also returns after earning first-team All-NSIC honors as a utility player.

For the third time, USF had three players earn all-league accolades in 2018. Hoshaw, a pitcher and designated player, had a 10-7 record in 21 starts with seven complete games. She also hit .343 with 49 hits and 49 RBI while slugging .594. On the mound, USF also returns junior Courtney Mathews, who was 9-4 with five saves and ranked seventh in the NSIC with a 2.76 ERA.

Nieveen was one of the offensive leaders for USF. She hit .363 with six home runs, 28 RBI, .524 slugging mark and fielded .995. Aside from Nieveen, Meyer and Hoshaw, USF returns Emily Hove at second base. She hit .302 with 21 runs, 49 hits, 12 stolen bases and .463 slugging mark. Junior shortstop Lindsey Mossman had a .329 batting average with 39 runs, 53 hits, five home runs, 33 RBI, 15 steals, .528 slugging mark and .409 OBP. 

Sophomore infielder Cassie Van Beek (.333, .355 OBP), senior infielder Emily Miller (.280, 13 RBI, .352 OBP), sophomore catcher/infielder Emmie Uitts (.989 fielding, 17 assists) and junior outfielder Francesca Mickelson  (.266, three home runs, 18 RBIs, .391 slugging) also return along with a wealth of talented newcomers.