WINONA, Minn. - The Winona State University softball team will host a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) opponents to open up the 2024 Warrior league slate, hosting St. Cloud State and the University of Minnesota Duluth. 

WSU will take on SCSU on Friday, March 22, and UMD on Monday, March 25, with both doubleheaders taking place at the RCTC Dome in Rochester, Minnesota. Both contests will see 11am/1pm start times. 

Winona State (16-10, 0-0 NSIC) will take on a St. Cloud State side that went 1-5 at the MIAA/NSIC Crossover a week ago.  On Monday, WSU will see a Minnesota Duluth team that has not played since March 10 in Florida where the Bulldogs went 1-1 on the final day of the UMD spring trip. 

GAME & FAN INFORMATION

Live stream, live stats, and tournament page are available on the Winona State Softball schedule page. 

Both doubleheaders will take place in the RCTC Dome in Rochester, Minn. 

WINONA STATE STORYLINES, entering the weekend...

The Warriors are 16-10 overall, 0-0 NSIC

WSU is coming off a six-game skid having dropped a trio of doubleheaders at Pittsburg State (Kan.).

Abbie Hlas leads the Warriors in doubles (11), is second in walks (12) and is top in at-bats (91).

Hlas broke Winona State Softball career doubles record earning her 66th double in the Goldey-Beacom game, previously held by Sarah Carlson with 62. 

Sam Keller leads Winona State in slugging percentage (.708) and home runs (4).

Kiley Slaats lead the team with stolen bases (6-for-8) with Alyssa Woelfel going 3-for-3 on stolen bases so far this season. 

Keller and Carly Engelhardt both have batted in 22 RBI apiece. 

In the circle, Abby Smith holds a 6-4 record and Izzy Howe has a similar record at 6-3. 

Jayda Berg has earned a 4.13 ERA on so far this season while Howe checks in at 2.61. 

Smith leads the Warriors with 60.1 innings in the circle with 27 strikeouts, Howe has collected 57 strikeouts over 58.2 innings.

Smith and Howe both have earned two shutouts a piece going into this weekend. 

In Florida, Greg Jones surpassed the 900-win mark at Winona State last season and is currently inching closer to the 950-win mark, being five wins away. 

Weekend opponent storylines

St. Cloud State is 17-9 overall and has a 0-0 league mark.
- The Huskies are 4-0 at home on the year. 
- SCSU lost their last contest against Nebraska Kearney 0-2. 
- Bethany Weiss leads SCSU in batting average (.356).
- Justyce Porter is 7-2 in the circle and Huskie teammate Emma Eickhoff is 5-4 overall. 
- Reese Holzhueter leads the team in stolen bases (7-of-10) while teammate Bree Beck is a perfect 6-of-6 on stolen base attempts. 

Minnesota Duluth is 19-6 overall and has a 0-0 league mark.
- The Bulldogs are 1-1 at home on the year. 
- UMD has gone 9-1 over their last ten games. 
- Julia Gronholz leads UMD in batting average (.368) and is second in RBIs (13).
- Lauren Dixon is 10-2 in the circle and the only Bulldog pitcher with over 80 innings pitched (87)
- Julia Gronholz is 8-of-9 in stolen base attempts for UMD.

WARRIOR NOTABLES

Winona State standout Abbie Hlas was named the 2024 NSIC Preseason WSU Player to Watch this season. 

Winona State pitcher Abby Smith was named the 2024 NSIC Preseason WSU Pitcher to Watch.  

Head coach Greg Jones has started the 2024 NCAA Division II season with 945-318-4 (.745) record. 

Winona State has made 15 NCAA Division II Tournament appearances as a program, all with Jones at the helm.