Saturday, April 23
Pittsburg State at Northwest Missouri State, Noon (Game 1) | Live Stats
Pittsburg State at Northwest Missouri State, 2 p.m. (Game 2) | Live Stats
 
Tuesday, April 26
Missouri Southern at Northwest Missouri State, Noon (Game 1) | MIAA Network | Live Stats
Missouri Southern at Northwest Missouri State, 2 p.m. (Game 1) | MIAA Network | Live Stats
 
The Northwest Missouri State University softball team will complete a 12-game homestand with doubleheaders against Pittsburg State (Saturday) and Missouri Southern (Tuesday).
 
Northwest (9-34 overall, 3-15 MIAA) has split three of its previous four home MIAA doubleheaders under first-year head coach Naomi Tellez. Northwest's last two MIAA wins have come via shutout
 
The Bearcats will tangle with the Pittsburg State University Gorillas this Saturday with first pitch slated for noon. The Gorillas are 22-21 overall and 4-14 in MIAA play. Pitt State has lost 13 of its last 14 MIAA contests. PSU's last MIAA win came April 15 at Emporia State.
 
Northwest rescheduled its two games with Missouri Southern to next Tuesday because of COVID-related protocols within the Lion softball program. The Bearcats and Lions will get underway at Noon on April 26 at the Bearcat Softball Field. Missouri Southern is 23-18 overall and 11-7 in MIAA play this season. MSSU has lost three of its last four league games.
 
Freshman Skylar Pieper leads the Bearcats in hitting at .323. Pieper ranks fourth on the squad with 31 hits. She ranks second on the team in doubles (5). She has been hit by a pitch eight times, which ties her for the sixth-most HBPs in the MIAA. Pieper has recorded seven multi-hit games, including a pair of three-hit contests. Pieper is 18-of-38 when leading off an inning. She is batting .318 (7-of-22) with runners in scoring position.
 
Junior Jacee Winn has posted a team-best 38 hits and three sacrifice bunts. Winn is batting .304 with 15 runs scored. Winn has tallied nine multi-hit games, including a four-hit performance vs. Winona State (March 20). Winn leads the squad with 22 hits with the bases empty. Winn is batting .421 (16-of-38) with two outs.
 
Junior Olivia Daugherty is tied for the team lead in home runs (8) and multi-hit games (11). Daugherty is batting .288 with a .542 slugging percentage. She has registered four multi-RBI contests this season. Daugherty ranks second on the team with 34 hits. She has a team-best 17 hits with runners on base.
 
Sophomore Abby Nolte leads the squad in slugging percentage (.550) and OPS (.889). She is tied for the team lead in home runs (8) and multi-hit contests (11). Nolte ranks second on the team in batting average (.306), hits (34) and RBI (20). She has four multi-RBI games. Nolte is batting .333 in MIAA play with 14 hits in 42 at-bats with four homers. Nolte is batting 4-of-9 (.444) with a runner at third and less than two outs.
 
Sophomore Lauren Gray has posted a team-best 23 RBI and six multi-RBI contests. She has delivered a team-best 15 two-out RBI this season. She has tallied a team-best 18 extra-base hits. Gray leads the Bearcats with 10 doubles. She is tied for the team lead in home runs (8). She has six multi-hit games. Gray has blasted four of her home runs in MIAA action. Gray has two four-RBI games this season against Minnesota-Duluth (Feb. 20) and against Northeastern State (April 9).
 
Junior Hannah Blackford has scored a team-high 22 runs this season. Blackford is batting .265 with a team-best eight stolen bases in eight attempts. Blackford also leads the squad in walks (10). She has seven multi-hit games.
 
Junior catcher Madison Friest is batting .275 with 22 hits. Friest is batting .394 with runners on base (13-of-33). She has posted four multi-hit games. Friest has two multi-RBI games. She has thrown out six would-be base stealers. She leads the team with 164 putouts.
 
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Breck Dickey is 5-12 with a team-best 100 strikeouts in the circle. Dickey is looking to crack Northwest's single-season top-10 list for strikeouts in a season. Dickey's 100 strikeouts are the most for a Bearcat pitcher since Rachel Smith struck out 108 batters in 2018. In her last three outings, Dickey has pitched 17 innings and has allowed one earned run to go along with 15 strikeouts.
 
Northwest Most Strikeouts (Single-Season)
1. 150, Jenna Creger (2011)
2. 147, Jenna Creger (2013)
    147, Kelly Morris (2008)
4. 144, Jennifer Spencer (1995)
5. 140, Jenna Creger (2010)
6. 129, Kendle Schieber (2015)
7. 126, Kendle Schieber (2016)
8. 117, Jenna Creger (2012)
9. 108, Rachel Smith (2018)
10. 107, Sarah Baldwin (2014)