Tournament FiveSouth Dakota's softball team (2-20) wraps up Spring Break with five games at the Under Armour Showcase hosted by University of South Florida. The Coyotes' tournament schedule includes:
Friday, 8:30 a.m. - Northern Kentucky (5-12)
Friday, 10:45 a.m. - Central Michigan (8-10)
Saturday, 8:15 a.m. - Army (7-8)
Saturday, 1 p.m. - USF (14-9)
Sunday, 8 a.m. - Bowling Green (8-8)
All times listed are CST
Approaching the SummitSummit League play couldn't come soon enough for South Dakota, which challenged itself with an ambitious schedule, but has just two wins to show for it. The Coyotes have been without senior
Katie Cochran for the last seven games leaving
Yvon Minogue as the only player with an average north of .290. Minogue is one of the nation's top hitters at .449 with three home runs and 14 RBIs. Her next hit will place her alone at fourth on the program's all-time list with 226. But her teammates have combined for a .198 average and USD is averaging fewer than three runs a game.
Senior pitcher
Madison Frain has become the ace of a staff that has been dogged by control problems. Frain is 1-8 with a 6.26 ERA and an opponent's batting average of .310. She has the best strikeout-to-walk ratio on the team, but the rest of the staff has combined to issue 109 free passes in 77 2/3 innings. Thirty-nine of those runs have come around to score.
The OpponentsNorthern Kentucky (Final 2015 RPI: 265 | 6-42 overall | Picked 9th out of 9 in the Horizon League)
The Norse are trying to improve from a six-win season a year ago and have joined a new league - the Horizon League. UNK has two new pitchers to aid in that improvement. Junior Charlie Nolen helped lead Kankakee Junior College to a national championship a year ago. She's 3-5 with a 3.98 ERA in 56 innings pitched for the Norse. Freshman Jordan Harbacek is 2-3 with a 4.59 ERA. Nolen and Harbacek have combined for 12 starts. Sophomore Alina Maher, who hit .245 as a freshman last year, leads the Norse with a .333 average this season. Junior catcher Dani Devlin hit .347 with 12 homers a year ago, but is hitting .280 with just one homer thru 17 games.
Central Michigan (Final 2015 RPI: 125 | 27-23 | Picked 1st out of 6 in the Mid-American West Division)
The Chippewas are led by MAC Preseason Player of the Year Katelyn Rentschler, a senior first baseman, who is batting .412 with six home runs and 18 RBIs. Chelsea DeLamlielleure is a first-team all-MAC performer hitting .389 with three homers. Sydney Heath is a Michigan State transfer batting .385 with five runs scored. In the circle, junior Rachael Knapp is a second-team honoree who has started 10 games and pitched two shutouts. She's 5-4 with a 2.93 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 59 innings. Central Michigan has faced a competitive schedule thus far and has a win against nationally-ranked Arizona to its credit.
Army (Final 2015 RPI: 205 | 23-27-1 | Picked 3rd out of 7 in the Patriot League)
The Black Knights are 7-8 despite no home runs and 14 extra-base hits all season. Veteran pitchers Kristen West and Caroline Smith has kept games close. West was 8-10 with a 2.77 ERA last year. She's 5-1 with a 2.35 ERA this year in seven starts and 11 appearances. Kasey McCravey is the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year. McCravey hit .401 last year with eight homers, 42 RBIs and 44 runs scored. Her numbers are .314 with seven RBIs and 10 runs scored thus far. Mae Wadyka, a freshman from Texas, leads the team with a .375 average and eight stolen bases.
USF (Final 2015 RPI: 54 | 36-20 | Picked 4th out of 7 in the AAC)
The Bulls sniffed the NCAA tournament a year ago and hoping to break thru this season. USF has won six in a row and 12 of its last 14 despite a top-25 schedule that has included multiple games against big name opponents. Senior Erica Nunn is the leader. Nunn is 6-5 in the circle with a 3.30 ERA, and .371 in the batter's box with five doubles and six RBIs. A freshman, Cheyenne Eggens, has added pitching depth. She's 6-0 with a 2.23 ERA in 50 innings of work. The lineup is topped by junior outfielder Juli Weber's .427 average that includes three home runs and 14 RBIs. First-team all-conference catcher Lee Ann Spivey is hitting .338 with four homers and 12 RBIs. The Bulls have speed to the tune of 25 steals in 33 chances. Weber and Astin Donovan are a combined 14 of 15 on the base paths.
Bowling Green (Final 2015 RPI: 212 | 20-28 | Picked 6th out of 6 in the Mid-American East Division)
The Falcons, under new head coach Sarah Willis from Dayton, returned quite a bit from their 20-win team in 2015. Outfielder Marisa Cook, seldom used in her first two seasons, is hitting .396 with a team-high seven home runs and 14 RBIs. Sophomore Chelsea Raker is hitting .415 with two homers and 12 RBIs. Sophomore catcher Morgan Evangelista is at .370 in 10 starts and 27 at bats. Returning pitchers Briana Combs and Braiden Dillow are joined by freshman Kiley Sosby, who has started half the team's 16 games. Sosby is 5-3 with a 2.98 ERA in 44 innings. She has 40 strikeouts against 11 walks. Expectations are low for Bowling Green, who is picked last in the East Division of the MAC and have faced a schedule that ranks 269th thus far.
