WINONA, Minn. - The Winona State University softball team, currently on a four-game winning streak, will open play in the 2023 NSIC Softball Tournament on Wednesday, May 3, taking on Minnesota State Moorhead at noon. 

Winona State wrapped up the 2023 NSIC regular season in third place overall, racking up a 20-6 league mark and a 37-14 overall record. The 2023 season saw several standout individual performances, highlighted by offensive firepower, success in the Warrior circle and the traditional Winona State stellar defensive standards. 

Libby Neveau enters the 2023 tournament on a home run tear, having hit five home runs in the last eight Warrior contests. Neveau belted two homers in the WSU 8-1 win over Northern State on April 30, having also put one over the fence in game one of the NSIC doubleheader. Neveau enters the 2023 NSIC Tournament second all-time in the Warrior record book for career home runs with 47; the WSU all-time mark is 53, set by Sarah Carlson between 2003-2006. 

Named the 2023 NSIC Preseason Player of Year, WSU's Abbie Hlas wins games for the Warriors with her bat, glove and ability in the circle. Hlas currently is tops in the NSIC in doubles (21), fifth overall in the NSIC in batting average (.404), and leads the league in total hits (78). Hlas has racked up 14 wins and two saves as a pitcher for Winona State; Hlas will carry a 3.04 ERA into the 2023 NSIC Tournament. 

Only 14 Winona State pitchers have ever thrown a no-hitter in the storied history of the program and Abby Smith became the most recent to do so on April 12, 2023 against Concordia St. Paul, throwing a 9-0 no-hit shutout against the Golden Bears. Smith enters the postseason tied for second in the NSIC in wins (17) and has picked up a pair of saves on the season. Combined with Warrior teammate Hlas, Winona State is one of just two schools with a pair of pitchers in the NSIC Top-10 in terms of wins. 

Carly Engelhardt's 11 home runs place her fifth overall in the NSIC home run race and NSIC pitchers have taken note of Engelhardt's power potential at the plate - the junior from Oswego, Ill. has also been walked 27 times this season, tied for the sixth-most in the league. Engelhardt and Neveau showed their extra-base ability in the 2022 NSIC Tournament, with both players hitting two home runs apiece. 

As a team, Winona State sits atop the NSIC in terms of team fielding percentage, posting a 0.974% mark. WSU also has turned 17 double plays, fourth-most in the league. 

Winona State and Minnesota State Moorhead met recently, with WSU winning a pair of one-run ballgames over the Dragons. The Warriors battled back in both contests, rallying behind Abby Smith (win) and Abbie Hlas (save) to claim victory in game one 5-4 on a four-run sixth inning and taking a pitcher's duel in game two, 3-2, with Hlas going the distance for the victory. 

Minnesota State Moorhead enters Wednesday's game having lost three of their final four games; the Dragons series against Upper Iowa on Sunday, April 30 was canceled. 

The 2023 NSIC Softball Tournament will have a 10-team double elimination format over four days at the RYFSA Complex in Rochester, Minnesota.