This Week: The University of Mary will open up the 2013 Northern Sun Softball Tournament as the No. 9 seed with a rematch against the tenth seeded St. Cloud State.
 
The Records: U-Mary finished the season with a 24-17 record overall and a 13-11 mark in conference play.  SCSU finished just one game behind the Marauders with a 12-12 conference record. The Huskies were 27-24 overall.
 
Format: The NSIC Softball tournament is a 10-team double elimination tournament; the top six teams receiving first round byes. The first two days of the tournament will be held at the RCTC Dome in Rochester, MN. The final day of the tournament will be held outside, weather permitting.
 
On the Line: The tournament champion receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Softball Central Regional played May 10-12 followed by the NCAA Super Regionals on May 18-19, on a campus to be determined. The NCAA Finals are set for May 23-27, 2013 at Moyer Complex in Salem, VA.
 
Follow Along: You can follow along with live stats at www.northernsun.org/custompages/softball/south/xlive.htm. Both the Northern Sun (@NorthernSunConf) and U-Mary (@umarysports) will be sending updates via Twitter during the game. To visit the tournament homepage go to www.northernsun.org/softball.
 
NSIC Honors: Both Allison Brown and Cherlyn Trujillo were named to the second team. Trujillo was also honored as the NSIC Newcomer of the Year.
 
Super Senior: U-Mary's lone senior, Jessica Alvarado, has now hit safely in 27 of her last 33 games including 10 of the last 11. The Marauders center fielder now has 214 career hits good for the second most in U-Mary's NCAA era (2006-present).
 
711: With a .711 slugging percentage Brown has the highest single season average of any player in U-Mary NCAA history. Brown's .628 career slugging percentage is also tops in program history.
 
300: The Marauders have five different players (Brown, Alvarado, Alana Norman, Brittney Hadley and Demaree Rodriguez) hitting above .300 this season and maintain a team batting average of .295.
 
Power Surge: Julissa Perales went 8-for-17 with a home run and eight runs batted in last week. U-Mary's catcher finished the week with a .706 slugging percentage. Perales' biggest game of the week came in a 7-0 win over Bemidji State as she went 3-for-3 with a home run and 4 RBI.
 
Utility Work: Hadley has been asked to start at four different field positions this season in addition to the designated player position. The versatile sophomore has started all 41 games for the Marauders this season. Starting the majority of her games in the infield, Hadley has the fewest errors among U-Mary's starting infielders.
 
Finishing Strong: After a disappointing nine-game stretch in which U-Mary won just three games, the Marauders rebounded and finished the season winning six of seven to earn a spot in the NSIC Tournament. During this stretch to end the season, the Marauders allowed just five earned runs, struck out 55 batters in 49 innings and allowed an opponents batting average of just .195.
 
Rematch: U-Mary and St. Cloud State split in conference play on April 21. The Marauders lost the first game 2-0 and won the second game 4-0. U-Mary defeated SCSU in non-conference play 5-4 on Feb. 10. 
 
Recent History: Over the past four seasons U-Mary has a 6-1 record against SCSU.  The Marauders had a five game winning streak against the Huskies until they split in conference play earlier this season.
 
Scouting SCSU: St. Cloud is 10th in the NSIC with a .280 batting average and average 4.55 runs/game. The Huskies are one of the best slugging teams in the conference with 47 home runs and 59 doubles. Key to SCSU's offensive attack has been catcher Mikayla Hogan and shortstop Kelly Olson. Hogan is hitting a team-high .348 and has hit 15 home runs. Olson is second on the team with a .345 average and has driven in 35 runs.  Both Hogan and Olson were named 2nd team All-NSIC. The Huskies have allowed just 3.83 runs/game that has been fueled by the performance of Kelly Franks. Also a member of the All-NSIC 2nd team has a 2.05 ERA and has struck out 259 batters.  
 
Scouting U-Mary: Hitting at a .295 clip, U-Mary is scoring 5.29 runs/game. Near the middle of the pack in most offensive categories, the Marauders have had success delivering extra base hits. Fifth in the conference with 39 home runs, U-Mary has a team slugging percentage of .468. Ten different players have gone deep for the Marauders this season. As a team U-Mary have given up 4.55 runs per game and have a staff ERA of 3.17.
 
Up Next: If the Marauders win their first game they will take on top seeded Minnesota State later that day at 1:30 p.m., if they lose they will take on the loser of Winona State and Augustana at 8:30 a.m. the following day.

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