SIOUX FALLS – The University of Sioux Falls Softball Team (23-28, 13-17 NSIC) received the No 10 seed and will face the No. 7 seed Minot State (26-21, 15-15 NSIC) on Thursday, May 2 at 10 a.m., in the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament in Rochester, Minn.

The top 10 teams in the final regular season standings will participate in the double-elimination tournament, which will be held May 2-4 at RYFSA Complex in Rochester, Minnesota. For more information on the tournament, please visit the championship website at NorthernSun.org/NSICsb.

Follow all the action
To follow USF, fans are encouraged to check out the Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and YouTube accounts for all 17 USF Athletics accounts at usfcougars.com/socialmedia. Live stats for all USF Softball home games are available at usfcougars.com/livestats and links to live stats for all NSIC games are on the USF Softball schedule.  Weather permitting, all USF Softball home games will be streamed for free through Stretch Internet at usfcougars.com/watch and links to away games are on the USF Softball schedule.

Last time out – USF dropped a pair of road doubleheaders to wrap up the regular season
USF dropped a pair of NISC games against St. Cloud State on Friday (April 26) afternoon. Ashley Meyer hit her 20th career homerun in the 7-2 game one loss before USF dropped a 1-0 decision, despite solid pitching performances from Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag and Sydney Nieveen in game two.

In game one, senior Kerrigan Hoshaw fell to 9-10 on the season after a five-inning effort where she gave up seven runs on nine total hits and issued four walks while striking out three SCSU batters. Van Der Zwaag relieved Hoshaw in the sixth inning and allowed just one hit and recorded one strikeout. The USF offense was mostly held in check by SCSU senior pitcher Kate Kopeck (16-6 on the season) as they produced two runs on three hits. Meyer led USF with two hits in three at bats including a two-run homerun in the second inning. Meyer now has seven homers on the season and 19 in her career at USF. Lindsey Mossman recorded the other hit for the Cougars.

USF dropped a hard-fought game two despite a pair of strong pitching performances from Van Der Zwaag and Nieveen, who allowed just three hits in 20 at bats for a SCSU team batting average of .150. Van Der Zwaag started for USF and fell to 1-4 on the season after three innings of work where she allowed one run on three hits and walked one batter while recording one strikeout. Nieveen came in for Van Der Zwaag in the fourth inning and pitched three innings of hitless relief. She recorded eight groundouts and one fly out in the nine batters she faced. Francesca Mickelson led the USF offense with a pair of hits in three plate appearances including one double. Emily Miller and Van Der Zwaag each produced one hit in three at bats for the Cougars.

Despite a strong offensive performance, USF dropped a pair of games against Minnesota Duluth in the final weekend of the regular season on Sunday (April 28). USF dropped game one, 8-6, after UMD designated hitter Jessica Bren hit a walk-off three run homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Cougars took a 10-5 loss in game two, despite Emily Miller's ninth homerun of the season.

In a high-scoring game one, Jessica Bren's walk-off three-run shot in the bottom of the seventh inning gave UMD a win. Junior Sydney Nieveen received the start for USF and went five innings as she allowed four runs on 12 total hits while issuing two walks and striking out three UMD batters. Freshman Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag came in to pitch in the sixth inning and received the loss after allowing four runs (all unearned) on three total hits, walked one batter and struck out a pair of Bulldogs. The USF offense produced 12 hits in 28 at bats for a team batting average of .429. Ashley Meyer led the team with a pair of doubles in two at bats with two RBI and one run scored. Lindsey Mossman went two for three with two runs scored while Emily Miller and Lexie Swift both had two hits and a run scored. Junior Francesca Mickelson had a double and three RBI while Emily Hove, Emmie Uitts and Van Der Zwaag each recorded a hit.

Van Der Zwaag started on the bump for USF in game two and fell to 1-6 on the season after a three-inning effort where she allowed seven runs on eight hits while issuing two walks and striking out a pair. Nieveen came in to pitch in the fourth inning and gave up three runs on five hits and struck out one batter. The USF offense produced five runs on nine hits (31 at bats) with a team batting average of .290 in the contest. Uitts and Swift tallied a pair of hits each and both scored. Miller hit her ninth homerun of the season as she also drove in three runs.  Mossman, Hove, Meyer and Mickelson all posted one hit.

Series History vs Minot: series is tied 6-6
USF tied the all-time series with Minot State, 6-6 following a regular season sweep earlier this season. On the road, USF is 3-3 after splitting the doubleheader in 2015 and dropping a pair of contests in their last matchup in 2017. In 2016, the Cougars pounced on the Beavers and swept them, 8-6 and 10-2. Kerrigan Hoshaw went 3-for-4 at the plate and pitched five innings to earn the win. In game two, Breanna Black scattered five hits to allow just two runs while six different Cougars recorded two or more hits each in a 10-2 victory.

Hove leaves her mark on USF record book
With three hits against Minnesota State, Emily Hove became the career hits leader at USF in the program's DII era (103). She also ranks first in career at-bats (652), and career games started (212) and career total bases (292), third in RBI (106) and sixth in career runs scored (95). She has 20 career home runs which places her in a tie with teammate Ashley Meyer for fifth all-time (D2 era) at USF. Hove has enjoyed a strong senior season by registering a .536 slugging percentage with 10 doubles, two triples and team-highs in home runs with nine and RBI with 36. Hove is hitting .311 batting with 57 hits in 183 at bats through 51 games, while also sporting a .333 on base percentage and recording 32 runs scored. Following her standout performance during the Florida spring break trip earlier this year, Hove was awarded the NSIC Softball Player of the Week honors on March 18 for the first time in her career.

Miller and Hoshaw show senior leadership
Senior Emily Miller, who has appeared in 82 games while starting in 69 throughout her career at USF, has enjoyed a strong end to her senior campaign. She has hit 10 career homeruns with nine in her senior season. Miller has produced a standout performance over her last 18 games, posting a .446 batting average with 25 hits in 56 at bats. She has also produced a .946 slugging percentage with eight homeruns and four doubles while also driving in 17 RBI and scoring 15 times. Over the 18-game stretch, Miller has raised her season batting average from .164 to .283. For her standout performance against Concordia-St. Paul, MSU Moorhead and Northern State, Miller was awarded the NSIC Player of the Week honor on April 16 as USF won five of six contests.

Senior Kerrigan Hoshaw has had a solid season on the mound for the Cougars with a 9-10 record in 24 appearances and 17 starts. Following her second career perfect game on March 30, she allowed just one run in a complete game loss to Minnesota Crookston at home on March 31. In a 13-3 win over Wayne State, she allowed just one run on April 2, then pitched a complete game against UIU in earning the victory. She held a prolific Winona State offense to four runs on nine hits in a hard fought loss over on April 6. Hoshaw pitched a pair of gems including a four innings of scoreless softball against Minot State (April 19) followed by a complete game two-hitter against U-Mary on April 20. Hoshaw owns a 3.54 era and has held opponents to a .256 batting average. In 110.2 innings, she has recorded eight complete games with two shutouts. Hoshaw has struck out 87 batters while allowing 49 walks on the season. In USF's DII era, Hoshaw ranks first all-time with 11 shutouts and 396 strikeouts. She is second at USF in wins (49), appearances (115), starts (100), innings pitched (559.1) and third in complete games (42). In the series against Minnesota State (April 24), Hoshaw hit her 27th career home run, which ranks third all-time in USF's DII era.

Keen and Swift lead the team in batting average
Sarah Keen, a freshman from Rapid City, S.D., leads the team in hitting at .366 mark. In her 33 games played and 18 starts, she has produced 15 hits in 41 at bats and drawn five walks for an on base percentage of .435, which is second on the team. Keen has also recorded four doubles, three RBI and has scored eight runs for the Cougars while holding a .463 slugging percentage.

Lexie Swift has been a force at the plate during her freshman campaign as she has posted a .518 slugging percentage with 13 doubles, two triples and two homeruns in 141 at bats. Swift is hitting .355, which ranks second the team, with 50 hits in 141 at bats, while driving in 19 RBI. Swift has drawn 19 walks and holds a .438 on-base percentage while scoring 30 runs for the Cougars.

Mossman, Uitts and Mickelson show consistent play on defense
Junior shortstop Lindsey Mossman, sophomore catcher Emmie Uitts and junior center fielder Francesca Mickelson have started in all 51 games for the Cougars and have been a consistent staple in the USF defense.

At shortstop, Mossman has recorded 96 total assists and 54 put outs while only committing eight errors on the season for a fielding percentage of .949. She has also recorded a season batting average of .312 (43-for-138) and a slugging percentage of .457 with four homeruns and eight doubles. Mossman has also scored 21 runs while driving in 21 RBI on the year. Over six game stretch against Augustana, Minot State and U-Mary, Mossman has posted a batting average of .522 (12-for-23) including two HRs, three doubles, five RBI and six runs scored with an on base percentage of .560 and a slugging percentage of .913.

Uitts has caught every game for USF this season and has been the vocal leader from behind the dish. Uitts has recorded 231 put outs on the year with 26 assists while only recording seven total errors for a fielding percentage of .973. On offense, Uitts is batting .239 (27-for-113) with four home runs and six doubles for a slugging percentage of .398. She has also driven in 14 runs while scoring 19 runs for herself.

Mickelson is hitting .269 with 43 hits in 160 at bats. She has recorded 23 runs and 24 RBI with a .425 slugging percentage after hitting five home runs paired with 10 doubles on the season. Mickelson has also made highlight reel plays from center field as she has posted 73 put outs and assisted on five more outs while only recording one error in the 51 game season for a fielding percentage of .987.

Nieveen and Meyer add depth to Cougar offense
Junior All-league infielder Sydney Nieveen has been swinging a hot bat recently. She has raised her average to .298 on the year with 22 RBI through 51 games. Nieveen has scored 27 runs with an on-base percentage of .390 and a slugging percentage of .440 with four homeruns and eight doubles. Nieveen also leads the league in being hit by pitches with a total of 16 HBP taken. Ashley Meyer has hit seven home runs on the season and added 19 RBI and 18 runs scored with a .510 slugging percentage and a .260 batting average. She ranks fifth all-time in home runs with 20.