This Week: The University of Mary softball team is set to play three conference doubleheaders this week beginning with Minnesota State University Moorhead on Wednesday at home at 2 p.m. U-Mary will hit the road for the weekend to take on Concordia University-St. Paul on Sunday at 1 p.m. and Minnesota State University, Mankato on Monday at noon.

Follow Along: Live video will be available for U-Mary's doubleheader against MSU Moorhead on Wednesday at goumary.com/coverage. Livestats for all six games will be available at goumary.com/coverage.
 
Social: In game updates will be posted on the Marauders official Twitter page @umarysports. You can also check out the Marauders official Facebook page "Marauder Athletics". Be sure to give softball's official Twitter a follow as well @umary_softball.
 
Records:
U-Mary                                19-15 (4-6 NSIC)     
MSU Moorhead                   7-14 (3-9 NSIC)       
Concordia-St. Paul              12-20 (7-5 NSIC)     
Minnesota State                  28-6 (12-0 NSIC)     
 
History vs. MSUM: Dating back to 2006, U-Mary has a 12-10 record against MSU Moorhead, including a 10-2 advantage in conference meetings. Winners of the last 11 games of the series overall, the Marauders are 7-5 against the Dragons at home.
 
History vs. CU: Dating back to 2007, U-Mary has a 5-13 record against Concordia-St. Paul, including a 2-10 disadvantage in conference meetings. Losers of nine of the last 10 games, the Marauders are 0-5 against the Golden Bears on the road.
 
History vs. MSU: Dating back to 2009, U-Mary has a 4-4 record against Minnesota State, including a 4-4 record in conference meetings. Losers of three of the last four games, the Marauders are 3-1 against the Mavericks on the road.
 
Last Season vs. MSUM: Despite near freezing game time temperatures, U-Mary's offense ignited for 18 runs on 24 hits in a sweep of MSU Moorhead. In the first game U-Mary got on top early with a five run third before winning by a final of 8-3. In the second game it took the Marauders extra innings to secure an 11-4 victory.
 
Last Season vs. CU: Last season U-Mary's meeting against Concordia-St. Paul in Bismarck was cancelled.
 
Last Season vs. MSU: Last season U-Mary's meeting against Minnesota State in Bismarck was cancelled.
 
Predictions: After finishing ninth in the NSIC last season, U-Mary was selected to finish in ninth again this season. After finishing 14th in the NSIC last season, MSU Moorhead was tabbed 14th by the coaches in the preseason poll. After finishing eighth in the NSIC last season, Concordia-St. Paul was tabbed sixth in the preseason coaches poll.  After finishing first in the NSIC last season, Minnesota State received seven first place votes and was tabbed first by the NSIC coaches in the preseason coaches poll.
 
U-Mary: The Marauders enter the week losers of their last three games, including a sweep at the hands of No. 19 Winona State University. Offensively U-Mary is hitting .329 as a team and averaging 5.2 runs per game. The Marauders allow 4.0 runs per game, 3.2 of which are earned. U-Mary's offense is lead by 2013 all-region performer Allison Brown, who is hitting .444 with 32 RBI. Anchoring a strong pitching staff, Cherlyn Trujillo has posted a 2.29 ERA with 90 strikeouts in 94.2 innings.
 
MSUM: The Dragons enter the week losers of their last three games, including a pair of run rule losses to Minnesota State last weekend. Offensively MSUM has struggled to hit the ball consistently hitting .215 as a team and averaging just two runs per game. The Dragons allow 4.9 runs per game, 4.1 of which are earned. Mollie Annen is leading MSUM's offense with a .271 batting average and seven runs scored. Kristen Nordby has been the Dragons most reliable pitcher posting a 3.72 ERA, with 42 strikeouts in 64.0 innings.
 
CU: The Golden Bears enter the week winners of three of their last four games including a sweep last weekend of Northern State University. Offenseively CU is hitting .287 as a team and averaging 4.5 runs per game. The Golden Bears have allowed 4.8 runs per game, 3.5 of which are earned. Bekah Roth is leading CU in batting average at .364 and RBI at 29. Stephanie Kappes has been leaned on heavily in the circle for the Golden Bears pitching 113.0 innings, while maintaing 3.59 ERA and striking out 75.
 
MSU: The Mavericks enter the week with an 18-game winning streak overall and a 15 game conference winning streak dating back to last season. With the highest overall batting average in the NSIC at .347, MSU is averaging 6.9 runs per game. The Mavericks have allowed just 2.7 runs per game, 2.4 of which are earned. 2013 1st team All-NSIC performer Samantha Hollen is leading MSU with a .496 batting average and 40 runs scored. Coley Ries is leading the Mavericks pitching staff with a 1.48 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 94.1 innings.

The Numbers:
 
3: U-Mary's national rank for stolen bases per game at 2.97
 
6: National rank for Alana Norman for stolen bases per game at 0.94
 
6: Number of U-Mary players hitting over .300
 
7: Number of U-Mary players with an on-base percentage of .350 or higher
 
8: Number of multi-hit games for Amber Gamboa
 
9: Number of sacrifice bunts Francince Villalobos has recorded, most overall in the NSIC
                                                                                          
10: Number of wins Erin Keen has recorded, matching her career-high
 
14: Number of bunt singles for Alana Norman
 
32: Number of stolen bases for Alana Norman
 
32: Career home runs for Allison Brown
 
On Deck: U-Mary is next scheduled to play on Tuesday, April 15 on the road against Northern State University.
 
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