SIOUX FALLS – The University of Sioux Falls Softball Team (20-19, 14-11 NSIC) will conclude the regular season with back-to-back NSIC road doubleheaders at Concordia St. Paul (21-17, 15-9 NSIC) and Minnesota St. Mankato (30-7, 19-5 NSIC) on Saturday and Sunday, May 8-9. 

The Cougars will face Concordia St. Paul on Saturday, May 8 in St. Paul, Minn., with games set for 12 pm and 2 pm. On Sunday, May 9, USF will take on the Minnesota St. Mavericks in Mankato, Minn., with games at 12 pm and 2 pm. After this weekend's NSIC games, the Cougars, which currently sit eighth in the league standings, will play at the NSIC Tournament May 13-15 in Rochester, Minn. The tournament will include the top 10 teams. USF has already clinched a spot in the tournament and will try to improve their seed during games this weekend. 

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Concordia St. Paul - Saturday, May 8
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Minnesota St. Mankato - Sunday, May 9
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Also follow along via live tweets by following USF Athletics on Twitter - @USF_athletics.

Six seniors will play final four regular season games

Six seniors - Frankie Mickelson, Rachel Klassen, Cassie Van Beek, Emily Cheloha, Mika Rodriguez and Emmie Uitts - will play their final four regular season games of their careers. They were honored as part of Senior Day on May 2 at Sherman Park.  Here is a review of the seniors and their statistics.

Centerfielder Frankie Mickelson, who hit over .300 twice in her career (.312, 2017 & .316, 2020) has had an impact at USF and been part of 117 victories through five seasons. She ranks in the top-10 in 12 statistical categories in USF's DII era, including playing in 190 games, which ranks third all-time as does her 182 career starts. Mickelson is third in at bats with 533, third in stolen bases with 30, fifth in hits with 148, sixth in RBI with 73, seventh in runs with 83 and eighth in home runs with 14.This season, she has had 19 games with a hit, including six multi-hit games. In her career, she has scored 83 runs, and twice hit five home runs in a season (2019, 2020) with 14 for her career. She has totaled 222 bases and fashioned a .484 career slugging mark and .312 on-base percentage with 30 steals in 35 attempts. In addition, she has had at least one hit in 105 games with 32 multi-hit games, including three games with a career-best four hits.

Catcher Emmie Uitts has played in 134 games in the last four years at USF and with 121 starts behind the plate ranks ninth all-time in USF's DII era. She has caught 15 runners stealing while compiling a perfect 4-4 mark on the base paths herself. Uitts had a career-best five home runs in the 2019 season and has 19 extra base hits in her career. She holds a .242 career mark at the plate with 33 Cougars driven in. This season Uitts, who has started 17 and played in 23 games, is hitting .250 with 11 hits and five doubles while putting together a .364 slugging mark. 

In 37 games with 34 starts in 2021, infielder Cassie Van Beek is hitting .242 this season with four home runs and 19 RBI while attaining a .444 slugging mark. She is 4-of-4 in stolen bases and is now 13-of-13 this year. She has played in 125 career games with 72 starts and is batting .257 for her career. She has six career home runs.  

A career .275 hitter, Mika Rodriguez has belted 17 home runs in her NCAA career and driven in 73 runs. A staple at shortstop, she has a .930 fielding percentage while currently leading the Cougars in assists with 50. In 2021, Rodriguez is hitting .264 with four home runs and 18 RBI while owning a .444 slugging mark.

Outfielder Rachel Klassen boasts a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with no errors in 54 chances. In 34 games, she has made 29 starts this season and has a .208 average with 14 runs on 15 hits and a .310 on -base percentage. Klassen has two stolen bases and three RBI.A career .237 hitter, Rachel leads the USF offense with two triples this season (ninth all-time at in the DII era) and sits in fourth with 10 walks.

A career mark of .184, utility standout Emily Cheloha has played in 74 games for the Cougars since joining the squad in the fall of 2016. After graduating from Omaha Marian High School in Omaha, Nebraska, Emily had a career best season in 2018 with a .200 mark and four runs driven in. She has hit .200 this season with a hit and a run with two RBI in five at bats.
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Breaking Down Opponents 

CSP, which is coming off a split with MSUM and canceled games at Northern St., stand 21-17 overall and 15-9 in the league. The Golden Bears currently sit in fifth place overall in the league, just three spots above USF. hitting .300 as a team. CSP is led in batting by Grace Beseman, who is hitting .372, with 28 runs on 45 hits, 11 doubles, and a team-high nine home runs. Clara Heislen is hitting .325 for the Bears, with 32 runs on 40 hits, five home runs, and 18 RBI. On the mound, CSP is led by Kali Kaestner, with a 2.46 earned run average, 10 complete games, and 98 strikeouts. Bryanna Olson has allowed 36 earned runs for a 3.29 earned run average, with four complete games and 76 strikeouts. 

MSU sits at 30-7 overall and 19-5 in the league, placing them in second overall in the league. The Mavericks are currently on a 10-game winning streak. MSU is currently hitting .326 as a team, with 208 runs in 335 hits, 21 home runs, and a .458 slug percentage. Torey Richards leads the Mavericks in batting, hitting .412 with 24 runs in 49 hits. Sydney Nielsen has a team-high eight home runs, while Hannah McCarville is hitting .407 with four home runs and a team-high 35 RBI. On the mound, Mackenzie Ward leads the Mavericks, with a 0.88 earned run average, 15 complete games, and a team-high 228 strikeouts. Ward holds a 17-2 record so far this season and has started 19 of 22 games. 
 
Series Notes – Concordia St. Paul & Minnesota St. Mankato
 
In the overall series, USF owns a 12-4 record over CSP. The Cougars longest winning streak over the Bears was seven games from April 22, 2015 until April 17, 2018 when USF dropped an 8-1 decision to CSP in St. Paul. The Cougars have won two of the last three games since the Bears ended their winning streak. In their most recent matchup, CSP took a 10-5 win over USF on April 9, 2019 in Sioux Falls, SD. 

Against the Mavericks, USF trails the all-time series, 11-2. MSU has won the last three matchups, with the Cougar's last win being a 5-4 decision in Sioux Falls, SD on April 4, 2017. That was also the Cougars last home win. In their most recent matchup, MSU took a 6-1 win over USF on April 24, 2019 in Sioux Falls, SD. 
 
Season Review - USF stands 14-11 in the league 

USF finished 3-3 at the Missouri Western HyVee Classic, which had several schedule adjustments due to weather, as the season opened in February. 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. 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 Missouri, 3-1. In the NSIC opener, USF split a pair with SMSU as they lost 3-1 and took a 5-3 decision. On the first road trip, USF swept Minnesota Crookston, 5-4 (eight innings), and 8-1 before dropping two at Bemidji State, 6-3, 5-3 (8 innings). The Cougars also defeated Wayne State, 8-6 and 5-2, at Wayne, Neb. Then, USF had a 1-1 mark against then No. 11 Winona State before falling twice in closely contested games against Upper Iowa, 3-2 and 1-0. USF took 2-of-3 in Aberdeen with a 7-2 loss to Northern State followed by a 14-2 win and then a 14-0 win over MSU Moorhead in a trio of road games up north. In earning its second straight road win, the Cougars scored 14 runs for a second straight day as seniors Emmie Uitts and Mika Rodriguez led the way against MSUM. Uitts hit a pair of three-run doubles and Rodriguez had five RBI and three hits in the MSUM win. In those two games, USF scored 28 runs on 27 hits in playing a combined 10 innings. That production is the best two-game run this season and in USF DII history. In fact, the 14 runs scored on Saturday afternoon at NSU and Sunday at MSUM is the most by a team since April 2, 2019 (14-4 over Wayne State).

Two weeks ago, USF upset No. 1 Augustana, 2-1, behind a two-run home run by Damaris Cuevas and stellar pitching from Hanna Cress, who held Augustana to one run. It was the program's first-ever win over a No. 1 team and the second win over a top-15 ranked squad. After that win, the Cougars ripped off four-straight wins against U-Mary (15-0, 11-2) and Minot State (9-1, 7-2) with the first three games all five-run run rule shortened games. Last weekend, the Cougars lost to Minnesota Duluth, 1-5 and 7-0. On Senior Day, the Cougars earned an 8-4 win over St. Cloud State in the opener before falling 4-0 in the second game.

The Cougars rank 11th in the league overall, with a .282 batting average. In the circle, USF is sixth in the league at 3.45, with 208 strikeouts and 126 earned runs allowed.

The Cougars have hit 17 home runs and recorded 23 stolen bases in 26 attempts. USF has a team .358 OBP, which is 11^th in the league, and a .389 slugging mark (10^th NSIC).  On defense, USF ranks sixth in the NSIC with a .971 percentage. They have 30 errors and totaled 12 double plays. In the circle, USF pitchers are averaging 5.69 strikeouts, which is seventh in the league, to 1.70 walks per seven innings. The walks per seven innings is sixth best in the league.

Cougars go 8-4 over past 12 games and hit .366 during stretch
Over the past 12 games, USF has 8-4 and has hit .366 with a 88-37 run differential and 117-83 advantage in history. USF has eight home runs, three triples, 18 doubles and 86 RBI in the stretch of 12 games. In addition, the Cougars have put together a .516 slugging percentage with a .445 OBP while fielding at a .984 mark with just five errors. Leading the way for USF has been outfielder Kylan Straight at .444 with 16 hits in 36 at bats and a .583 slugging mark. Shayla Running has hit .414 with 12 hits in 29 at bats and seven RBI while owning a .517 slugging mark. Mika Rodriguez has hit .412 with two home runs and 12 RBI and a .618 slugging mark. Kennedy Thomas has also hit over .400 with her .406 mark, which includes 13 hits in 32 at bats and a .441 OBP. In addition, Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag has batted .345 with two home runs and 12 RBI while attaining a .655 slugging mark.  In the circle, USF owns a 3.22 earned run average with eight complete games,  two shutouts and 48 strikeouts across 76 innings. Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag is 5-1 with a 2.69 earned run average in eight appearances. She has made six starts and has four complete games with 33 strikeouts in 41.2 innings. Hanna Cress has a 3-3 record with a 3.82 earned run average and four complete games with 14 strikeouts in 29.1 innings.
 
Cuevas leading the offense - ranks third in NSIC in hitting

The USF offense is led by freshman C/DP Damaris Cuevas who ranks third in the NSIC in batting average at .433. In 34 games with 30 starts, Cuevas has two home runs, including a go-ahead two-run home run against No. 1 Augustana in a 2-1 victory last week. She has 17 RBI, 53 total bases and 39 hits in 90 at bats. Cuevas has a .589 slugging and .475 on-base percentage while fielding 1.000 with 11 assists and 120 putouts. Cuevas, who has 11 multi-hit and six multi-RBI games, has had a 10-game hitting streak this year. She has had three hits in a game three times. On April 17 in the 14-2 win over NSU, she had her career-best with four RBI. With four games to play, Cuevas ranks second all-time in USF's DII era in batting average (Brooke Stetzler, 2016, .439, 189 ab). she is third all-time dating back to 2000 with Kristin Kono owning the school mark of .477 in 2004. 
 
Also on fire at the dish is sophomore infielder/pitcher Kennedy Thomas, who is hitting .289 with 22 hits in 76 at bats. She has nine RBI, .355 slugging mark and a .341 OBP. In addition, she has done some solid work in the circle with five appearances, 11 innings and just four earned runs with five strikeouts. Thomas has a 2.55 earned run average. 

Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag is batting .271 with 29 hits in 107 at bats. She has a .395 OBP and owns six multi-hit games this year and 12 in her career with 10 career multi-RBI games - nine this year, which leads USF. In a 9-6 win over Winona State, she had two hits including a three-run home run which was the game-winning hit. She hit her first career grand slam in the 11-2 win over Minot State. In the circle, she has two straight wins including a five-inning no-hitter over U-Mary (15-0) as she didn't walk a hitter and had eight strikeouts. Then she had a five-inning complete game win over Minot State when she allowed one run. On the season she stands 11-8 with a 3.27 earned run average. She has accumulated a team-best 107 strikeouts against 18 walks and has 10 complete games. Across 126.1 innings, she has allowed 59 earned runs.  Van Der Zwaag is 17-16 in her career with 233.1 innings and 53 appearances with 30 starts and 179 strikeouts.

Outfielder/DP, Kylan Straight is hitting .341, which ranks second on the team to Cuevas. She has a team-high 43 hits with 19 runs (2nd to Van Beek's 20). She has 12 RBI with six doubles, and a team-best eight steals in 10 attempts. She has 11 multiple hit games and a trio of multi-RBI games. Straight has had a six-game hitting streak this season. Named to the Washburn Invitational All-Tournament Team, she has made 38 starts in 39 games with a .405 slugging mark and .370 OBP. 

Freshman infielder Shayla Running ranks fourth on USF's squad, with a .323 batting average. With 33 starts in 36 games, she has 31 hits (96 ab) with 16 runs and 10 RBI. She has a .365 slugging mark and .375 OBP. In a doubleheader sweep over Minot State, Running had six hits in seven at bats with four RBI and a 1.143 slugging mark. A year ago, she led USF with a .431 average and had nine RBI with a .569 slugging mark. In fact her average of .431 ranks third all-time in DII era when counting at least 55 at bats. She had 25 hits in 58 at bats and is now 53-of-145 for .365 career average. She has 15 multi-hit games in her career with six this season. Four times she has had three hits in a game and 11 times had two in a game.

Freshman Hanna Cress is 9-10 with a 3.39 earned run average with 18 starts and 25 appearances in 2021.  In 18 starts, she has 95 strikeouts with 29 walks and allowed 132 hits across 111.2 innings. She has 11 complete games and a shut out this season. With Kaitlyn Van Der Zwaag, USF has 21 complete games in 39 starts. On April 22, she earned a win against No. 1 Augustana by throwing a complete game and allowing just a run on nine hits while registering five strikeouts. On April 2-3, Cress finished 2-1 with a 1.62 earned run average in four appearances while starting two games. She had two complete games and totaled 31 strikeouts across 17.1 innings and allowed just four earned runs. Against Minnesota Crookston (USF sweep) Cress won both ends of DH and in a start in game two had 15 strikeouts in a game which was the most by a USF player since 18 by Amanda Walters against Valley City College (ND) since Feb. 25, 2014 and is the most by a USF player in NSIC league play in school history. In her career, she is 14-13 with 37 appearances and 27 starts with 13 complete games and a save. In her career, she has 142 career strikeouts. 

Head Coach Shannon Pivovar
Pivovar, who has a 55-57 career record at USF with a 27-28 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.