WINONA, Minn. – The 2018 NSIC regular season and postseason champion Winona State University Warriors open play as the No. 1-seed in the NCAA Division II Central Regional against No. 8 Emporia State on Thursday afternoon at Maynard R. Johnson Field. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. The Warriors are riding a 15-game winning streak into the NCAA Regional.
The Warriors won the NSIC regular season and postseason title in the same year for the second time in program history and first time since 2003. Winona State is making its 13th NCAA Regional appearance and hosting for the first time since 2014. The Warriors' last Regional Championship came in 2013. Winona State has appeared in the Super Regional twice (2009 & '13) and the World Series once ('09).
The second game in Winona's bracket will feature Minnesota Duluth and Arkansas Tech, the four and five seeds, respectively, at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday in opening round action of the double-elimination tournament.
Live stats and video streaming will be provided for all games.
Visit the Winona Central Regional website for complete tournament information, here.
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SCOUTING EMPORIA: The Hornets are appearing in their 13th NCAA Regional and first since 2014. Emporia State enters the tournament red-hot, having won 13 of their last 14 contests. The Hornets clinched the eighth and final seed of the MIAA Tournament and proceeded to knock off the top seed en route to the MIAA Championship to earn an automatic bid to regionals. Emporia led the MIAA in stolen bases (97). Danielle Sprinkle was named the NFCA Division II National Player of the Week to close out the regular season and enters regionals batting .373 with 20 doubles, eight homers and 48 RBI. In the circle, Montana Mesler (13-12) owns a 4.69 ERA with 111 strikeouts.
SCOUTING DULUTH: The Bulldogs are making their eighth NCAA Regional appearance and fifth in the last nine seasons. UMD has never advanced to the Super Regional. Despite their 40-win record, the Bulldogs have lost four of their last six games entering regionals. UMD ranks sixth in Division II this season in doubles per game (1.89), 10th in scoring average (7.43), and 11th in homers/game (1.17) and slugging (.545). The Bulldogs' 123 stolen bases rank 11th in the country. Senior Hannah Schmoll leads the high-powered Bulldog offense with a .459 batting average. Becky Smith has a team-high 19 doubles and 65 RBI to go along with 12 homers. Jessica Bren leads UMD with 16 long balls. Breanna Swint (19-4) leads the pitching staff with a 3.10 ERA.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS TECH: The Golden Suns won their first GAC Postseason Championship by sweeping four games in the tournament while outscoring their opponents, 27-5. Tech is one of the best fielding teams in the country, ranking 23rd overall in fielding percentage (.970) and has turned 28 doubles plays which rank second. Sydnie Henson and Ashton Sangster enter regionals with matching .352 batting averages with the latter recording 14 doubles on the year. Addis Makenzie leads the team with 45 RBI and is tied with Janie Knowles with a team-best 11 homers. Megan Goodnight (16-4) is the ace of the staff with a 1.45 ERA and nine saves.
RECENT HISTORY: Winona State defeated Emporia State earlier this season, 8-7, in a grueling 11-inning battle. The Warriors committed a season-high four errors in that game. The Hornets own a 9-5 all-time record against the Warriors, including a pair of wins in the 2008 Regional which saw Emporia advance to the World Series. Winona State defeated Duluth in its lone meeting this season in the NSIC Tournament, 5-1. UMD owns a 47-36 all-time series record over WSU. If the Warriors match up with Arkansas Tech it would be their first meeting in program history.
CENTRAL REGION 2: The other half of the Central Region bracket is being hosted by two-seed Southern Arkansas. The field also includes: No. 3 Augustana, No. 6 Washburn and No. 7 Minnesota State Mankato. The highest remaining seed between the Winona and Southern Arkansas will host a best-of-three Super Regional on May 17-18.
SAVING HER BEST FOR LAST: Senior McKenna Larsen is far from done writing the storybook ending to her phenomenal Winona State career. In an improbable twist, Larsen may have saved her best softball for the final weeks of her career. Larsen single-handily tore through the NSIC Tournament last weekend. She was the winning pitcher in three of WSU's four games to go along with a pair of walk-off hits at the plate. Larsen capped her MVP performance with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh to capture the postseason crown. The two-sport All-American left her mark on the Warrior Volleyball record book while guiding the team to its most successful four-year span in program history and Larsen's name can also be found littered all over the Top 15 in Warrior Softball history (See insert in notes).
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP: Sophomore Jordyn Kleman followed up her 2017 NSIC Freshman of the Year campaign with 2018 NSIC Pitcher of the Year honors. Kleman (19-1) owns a 1.79 ERA and an NSIC-best 160 strikeouts. She has thrown two no-hitters this season, including a five-inning perfect game the day before she earned the win in Winona's regular-season title clinch. Kleman was named the NFCA Division II National Pitcher of the Year for April 23-29. The right-hander's 5.93 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks 12th in the country. Kleman has five double-digit strikeout efforts this season, including a career-best 15 punchouts in her no-hitter at Wayne State on April 5th.
BREAKOUT SZN: After hitting a modest .264 as a freshman and a .415 clip last season, junior shortstop Lani Van Zyl has established herself as one of the best offensive players in the country in 2018. Named the NSIC Player of the Year, Van Zyl ranks eighth in Division II in hits (79), ninth in batting average (.485) and total bases (138), 11th in slugging (.847), 12th in OBP (.542) and 17th in RBI (58). She has set career highs in each of those categories along with runs (55), doubles (18) and homers (13). Van Zyl has a team-best 25 multi-hit games and has only been held hitless in five ballgames this season. She posted a career-best 20-game hitting streak earlier this year and enters regionals riding an 11-game streak. Van Zyl's batting average is on pace to set a new Winona State single-season record.
YOU GO, WE GO: Winona State's 1-2 punch at the top of the lineup with Katelyn Kolb and Mariah Schultz has been the catalyst to the Warriors' offensive success. Kolb is batting .494 (41-for-83) when leading off an inning this season. Schultz ranks third on the team in OBP (.484). Each player has scored 47 runs apiece which ranks second for WSU.
NOWAK ATTACK: Sophomore Alison Nowak was named to the NSIC First Team for the second straight season in 2018. She is batting .409 and ranks second on the team with 11 doubles. Nowak has been one of Winona's most clutch hitters this season, batting .419 (18-for-43) with two outs to go along with 15 two-out RBI, and is hitting .409 (27-for-66) with runners in scoring position. Additionally, she leads the team with a .611 clip (66-for-108) successfully advancing runners.
DEEP DISH: Freshman Rylee Stout's first collegiate hit was a grand slam in her third ballgame and the West Chicago, Illinois native has not slowed down ever since. Stout ranks second on the team in homers (12), RBI (46) and slugging (.659). Her 12 long balls are the second-most in program history to Sarah Carlson's 14 in 2003. Stout has also found success behind the dish, throwing out six of 13 potential base stealers this year, including a pair against Duluth in the NSIC Tournament.
THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER: The Warriors are batting .339 (159-for-469) with two outs this season and have 125 two-out RBI. WSU's unconventional left-handed second baseman, senior Samantha McLean, was named to the 2018 NSIC All-Tournament Team. Freshman Jen Giesey is batting .393 (11-for-28) over her last nine games with seven extra-base hits and 12 RBI. The rookie's first collegiate homer run – a grand slam – served as a game-winner in Winona's final game of the regular season. Giesey also homered in the NSIC Tournament last weekend.
COACH'S CORNER: The 2018 NSIC Coach of the Year, Greg Jones, is in his 18th season at Winona State. Jones owns a career 747-254-4 record at the helm of the Warriors. Jones has guided WSU to each of its 12 40-wins seasons in program history. Each of Winona State's NCAA appearances in program history have come under Jones' tenure and he has guided the Warriors to four NSIC regular season crowns and seven postseason titles.
