SIOUX FALLS – After opening the NSIC season at home with a split University of Sioux Falls Softball Team (7-9, 1-1 NSIC) will face a road test at Minnesota Crookston (5-11, 1-1 NSIC) on Friday at 12 pm/2 pm and Bemidji State (5-11, 1-1 NSIC) at 2/4 pm on Saturday (April 3). 

Earlier this week, USF earned a split with SMSU as both teams opened the NSIC season. It was the first games in NSIC play since 2019 and the first at Sherman Park in Sioux Falls since April 24, 2019 (Minnesota State). The Cougars lost, 3-1 in the opener before earning a 5-3 win in the second game as Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag had a complete game  while both Kylan Straight and Damaris Cuevas had two hits and two RBI. 

Breaking Down Opponents - 

USF faces a Minnesota Crookston squad which has won three of four games including a 4-3 win against Bemidji State in eight innings on March 29. Bemidji State has split its last four games with its latest win an 8-4 decision over Minnesota Crookston in game one of a doubleheader on March 29.  UMC is hitting .241 (14th in NSIC) with seven home runs and a .328 OBP. Bemidji State is hitting .248 (12th, NSIC) with seven home runs and 61 RBI with a .357 OBP. BSU, which is 12th in the NSIC with a 4.43 earned run average, has allowed 66 earned runs in 104.1 innings with 95 strikeouts against 26 walks. UMC is seventh in the NSIC in earned run average at 3.36 and just ahead of USF at 3.50. They have allowed 49 earned runs in 102.0 innings with 83 strikeouts against 43 walks.

SERIES NOTES - USF leads MN Crookston, 12-3 and Bemidji State, 11-2
USF and MN Crookston have played 15 times, with USF owning a 12-3 overall record. USF has a 6-2 home record against MN Crookston with a 3-1 road mark with a 6-5 win on March 31, 2019 in Crookston, Minn., as Sydney Nieveen hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning of a 6-5 win. In the longest performance to that point in her career, Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag worked 6.1 innings and had seven strikeouts. USF trailed 5-4 in the night before rallying for the win. In their last five matchups, USF has won four of the five games, with their last loss on March 31, 2019 in a 1-0 MN Crookston win in Sioux Falls. In the first meeting between the schools on April 15, 2013 the Cougars took a 10-0 win at Sioux City, Iowa and was the first of eight straight wins. 

Against Bemidji State, USF holds an all-time 11-2 series lead but lost on March 30, 2019, 9-6. In the first game on March 30, 2019, USF took an 8-0 win in six innings. BSU's only other win in the series was a 3-1 decision on May 5, 2017. The Cougars sit 2-0 in away games, 7-1 at home and 11-1 in conference against BSU. In the last 10 matchups, USF is 8-2. In the first meeting on April 14, 2013, USF took a 6-5 win which was the first of eight straight win. In that winning streak, USF, which was won 3-of-5 since, outscored, 47-19.

Quick Look at USF 
Prior to the split with SMSU, USF finished 3-3 at the Missouri Western HyVee Classic, which had several schedule adjustments due to weather. USF opened by splitting two games at Central Missouri by taking a 7-6 win but falling, 6-1. After moving to Emporia, Kan., the Cougars dropped a 7-4 decision to Central Oklahoma but rebounded with a 5-3 win over Emporia State. With a four-run explosion in the first inning plus a stellar effort in the circle from Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag, USF turned back Emporia State, 5-3. Van Der Zwaag threw a complete-game two-hitter. With her 81 pitches to 26 batters, Van Der Zwaag allow just one earned run, two hits, and did not walk a hitter while registering two strikeouts. S he registered her third complete game of the season and lowered her earned run average to 3.28. Prior to those games, USF dropped two games to Missouri Western (7-3, 3-0). At the Washburn Invitational, USF, led by all-tourney standout Kylan Straight, was 3-3 with wins over MIssouri-St. Louis, 3-1; Pittsburg State, 6-0 and Central Missour, 3-1. 

Quick Look at USF - Cuevas ranks ninth in NCAA DII in hitting
In a review of the season so far, USF has gone 7-9 and hit .244, which ranks 13th in the NSIC. In standing 7-9 through 16 games, USF has a .306 slugging percentage and .314 on-base percentage with nine steals in 11 attempts. On defense, USF has committed 15 errors and has 104 assists and 312 putout. Opponents are hitting .298 with a .428 slugging mark and .333 on-base percentage.  USF ranks eighth in the NSIC with a 3.50 earned run average (8th, NSIC) with nine complete games and a shutout. In 104 innings, USF has allowed 126 hits and 52 earned runs while registering 73 strikeouts. 

 

The USF offense is led by freshman C/DP Damaris Cuevas who is hitting a league-best .575, which ranks ninth in NCAA DII. She has 25 hits in 43 at bats, five doubles, seven RBI and 28 total bases. Cuevas, who has eight multi-hit and three multi-RBI games, has a .698 slugging mark and .625 OBP which is also the best in the NSIC. Cuevas has a team-best eight-game hitting streak. 

Freshman infielder Shayla Running is hitting .289 with 11 hits in 38 at bats and .325 OBP, while Kylan Straight is hitting .286 with 16 hits in 56 at bats. Named to the Washburn Invitational All-Tournament Team, has four multi-hit games this year and two multi RBI games while owning 40 career hits. Twelve times this season, Straight has at least one hit in a game.

Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag is batting .250 with 11 hits in 44 at bats. She has a .365 OBP and owns two multi-hit games and eight in her career with six multi-RBI games. On the mound, she has a 2.96 earned run average and a 3-3 record. Van Der Zwaag has allowed 49 hits and 19 earned run with 35 strikeouts against eight walks. She has five complete games in sive starts and has held opponents to a .269 average She is 9-11 in her career with 152.1 innings and 43 appearances with 18 starts.   
 
Senior Frankie Mickelson has 10 hits, 12 total bases, .357 on-base percentage and .385 slugging mark. With two RBI this season, Mickelson sits eighth all-time at USF with 67. She is now tied with Alyson Netty, 67, 2015-16, and needs one more to pass her; and four to move past Danielle Walker, 70, 2015-16. She also ranks sixth in games played at USF with 169. She also ranks sixth in starts by a USF player with 162. Mickelson is also sixth all-time with 134 hits and 10 away from fifth, Kerrigan Hoshaw at 144, 2016-19. A senior center fielder, Mickelson ranks eighth in career home runs at USF with 14 and is two away from Sydney Nieveen, 16, 2017-20 and four away from Danielle Walker, 18, 2015-16.  She has 28 career steals and has 203 putouts, which ranks second all-time among outfielders (Megan Peterson, 226, 2014-17), with 17 assists on defense. In addition, Mickelson has 28 multi-hit games as well as 17 multi-RBI games.
  
Freshman Hanna Cress is 4-5 with a 3.72 earned run average with 10 appearances and eight starts. She has four complete games with 28 earned run in 52.2 innings. She has a team-best 37 strikeouts against 10 walks. In her career, she is 9-8 with 23 appearances and 17 starts with six complete games and a save. In her career, she has 84 career strikeouts. She had a career high nine strikeouts in a 3-2 win over Missouri Western on Feb. 23, 2020. This year, Cress has gone six or more innings on six times.   

Head Coach Shannon Pivovar
Pivovar, who has a 43-46 career record at USF with a 15-19 mark in NSIC play, is in her third year at USF. She was a standout student-athlete at Missouri Western State in St. Joseph, Mo. With the Griffons softball team, she was a four-year starter in the middle infield, earning All-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) honors three times, and added All-North Central Region honors in 2008. She also helped lead Missouri Western to a pair of NCAA Tournaments. Named the 2010 Missouri Western Female Athlete of the Year, Pivovar, who had a career average of .306 and a .455 slugging mark, ranks in the top-10 in nine career categories at MWSU, including; assists (3^rd, 387), at bats (5^th, 692), games played (6^th, 226), starts (6^th, 224), hits (7^th, 212), doubles (6^th, 40), home runs (10^th, 21), total bases (10^th, 315) and runs batted in (8^th, 124). She also ranks in the top-10 in three season categories, including doubles (4^th, 18, and 2008); RBIs (10^th, 43, and 2009) and assists (6^th, 136, and 2009). Pivovar also excelled in the classroom, earning All-MIAA academic honors three times, finishing her Griffon career with a 3.80 grade point average. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science degree in sports management, with a minor in business.