Saturday, March 1 – Shawnee, Kan. (Midwest College Classic)
Northwest Missouri State vs. Rockhurst, 1:30 p.m. (Mid America Sports Complex – Field 2)
Northwest Missouri State vs. Southwest Baptist, 4 p.m. (Mid America Sports Complex – Field 3)
 
Sunday, March 2 – Shawnee, Kan. (Midwest College Classic)
Northwest Missouri State vs. Augustana, 10 a.m. (Mid America Sports Complex – Field 4)
Northwest Missouri State vs. Maryville, 12:30 p.m. (Mid America Sports Complex – Field 3)
 
The Northwest Missouri State University softball squad will take part in the Midwest College Classic Saturday and Sunday in Shawnee, Kan.
 
The Bearcats (8-7 overall) will take on Rockhurst (1-5 overall) and Southwest Baptist (6-6 overall) on Saturday. Northwest will pair up against Augustana (5-3 overall) and Maryville (7-8 overall) on Sunday.
 
Northwest is coming off a 4-2 performance at the Washburn Invitational. Northwest picked up victories over Wayne State (W, 4-2), Minot State (W, 7-2), Northern State (W, 14-0) and Minnesota Crookston (W, 5-0). Northwest dropped matchups to Maryville (L, 6-1) and Rockhurst (L, 3-2). Northwest will get the opportunity to avenge the losses to Maryville and Rockhurst this weekend.
 
Northwest is batting .313 as a team with 130 hits. Northwest has plated 27 first-inning runs, while giving up only seven runs in the first inning this season. Northwest has outscored the opposition 40-8 in the first two innings of games. Northwest is 7-1 when leading after six innings.
 
The Bearcats possess a 3.12 team earned run average through 15 games. Bearcat pitchers have struck out 74 batters.
 
Junior Alexis Brown leads the Bearcats in hitting with a .442 average. Brown has posted seven multi-hit games this season. Brown has collected 21 career multi-hit games. Brown is tied for second in the MIAA with 23 hits. Brown has tallied seven two-out hits to tie for first on the team. Brown is 6-for-7 when leading off an inning this year. She was named the MIAA Hitter of the Week after she went 11-of-15 at the Alvy Early Classic. Brown tied a Bearcat single-game record by recording five hits in a 7-6 win over Illinois-Springfield. It is the sixth time in school history a Northwest softball player has recorded five hits in a game. Prior to Brown's feat against UIS, Lindy Tomlinson was the last Bearcat to achieve a five-hit game as she did it against Central Missouri on March 29, 2001.
 
Junior Omara Love struck out just once in 19 at-bats across six games as she went 11-for-19 (.579) at the Washburn Invitational. She accumulated four doubles, seven singles and seven runs scored in her weekend at the Washburn Invitational while logging four multi-hit games out of six contests. She also displayed cagey base running, going 2-for-2 on stolen base attempts. Love currently leads the conference in doubles (7) and is tied for second in hits (23). Love leads the squad in extra-base hits (9) with seven doubles and two triples. She ranks second on the team in batting average (.434). She has produced 12 RBI. Love has struck out twice in 53 at-bats. Love has produced 27 multi-hit games in her career and six games of three hits or more. Love has garnered seven two-out hits this season. Love enters this weekend's action riding a six-game hitting streak.
 
Senior Skylar Pieper leads the Bearcats in home runs (2) and stolen bases (7) this season. She ranks tied for No. 3 on the team with a .381 batting average. Pieper has drawn a team-high eight walks. Pieper has 37 multi-hit games. Pieper has five multi-RBI contests this season.
 
Senior outfielder Lillie Filger has scored a team-best 16 runs and is batting .340. Filger has led off an inning with 16 hits this year. She is credited with 53 multi-hit contests as a Bearcat. Filger has produced 15 three-hit games in her Bearcat career. Filger has tallied 164 career hits with a career average of .395 in 119 games in a Northwest uniform.
 
Freshman Malia Cuevas has a five-game hitting streak entering the Midwest College Classic. Cuevas has drawn seven walks. She is hitting .295 with 13 hits.
 
Freshman pitcher Rien Moore is 3-0 in 16 1/3 innings of work. She leads the MIAA in ERA (0.43) and fewest hits allowed (9). Moore ranks second in the MIAA in lowest opponent batting average (.155). Moore has allowed only one extra-base hit (double) against 70 batters this season. Moore has allowed three runs (one earned) on the year.
 
Sophomore pitcher Olivia Moyer has struck out a team-high 19 batters in 22 1/3 innings of work in the circle. Moyer is 1-4 with a 3.40 ERA. Moyer has made four starts this season.
 
Senior pitcher Cassidy Paulson recorded her first career shutout in a 5-0 win over Minnesota-Crookston. Paulson scattered eight hits and notched her second complete game of her Bearcat career. Paulson is 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA this season.
 
The Bearcats have posted back-to-back winning seasons for head coach Naomi Tellez with 28 wins in 2023 and 28 victories in the 2024 season. Northwest secured its first winning MIAA record (15-11) in 2024 for the first time since a 16-10 mark in the 2018 campaign.
 
Tellez is in her fourth season at the helm of the program and has generated 79 wins, including 35 triumphs in MIAA action. Tellez has an overall record of 79-92. She is 35-43 in league games.
 
The MIAA coaches projected Northwest to finish seventh in the preseason league poll.
 
2025 MIAA SOFTBALL PRESEASON POLL
1. Rogers State [7] – 139 points
2. Central Oklahoma [6] – 137 points
3. Pittsburg State – 120 points
4. Washburn – 111 points
5. Missouri Southern – 85 points
6. Missouri Western – 83 points
7. Northwest Missouri State – 79 points
8. Emporia State – 71 points
9. Central Missouri – 69 points
10. Fort Hays State – 48 points
11. Nebraska Kearney – 32 points
12. Newman – 26 points
13. Northeastern State – 14 points