Friday, March 14 – Maryville, Mo.
No. 6 Rogers State at Northwest Missouri State, 11 a.m./1 p.m. (Doubleheader)
MIAA NETWORK | LIVE STATS
 
Saturday, March 15 – Maryville, Mo.
Northeastern State at Northwest Missouri State, 12 p.m./2 p.m. (Doubleheader)
MIAA NETWORK | LIVE STATS
 
The Northwest Missouri State University softball squad will finally open MIAA play this weekend at home against No. 6-ranked Rogers State and Northeastern State.
 
The Bearcats are the final MIAA school to play a conference game this season after having moved its original opener at Nebraska-Kearney to March 22 because of weather.
 
The Bearcats (10-11 overall) will battle the sixth-ranked Hillcats (17-4 overall, 3-1 MIAA) Friday beginning at 11 a.m.. Northwest will then play host to the RiverHawks (6-14 overall, 0-4 MIAA) starting at 12 p.m. Saturday.
 
Northwest has outscored its opponents in the first two innings of games this season, 47-11. Northwest owns a 32-9 scoring advantage in the first inning and a 15-2 lead in the second inning. Overall, the Bearcats have outscored the opposition, 102-79.
 
Northwest is hitting .310 as a squad, which ranks No. 4 in the MIAA. Northwest is 10-3 when it has more hits than its opponent. The Bearcats are 0-8 when they have the same or fewer hits than their opponents.
 
The Bearcats possess a 3.23 team earned run average through 21 games. Bearcat pitchers have struck out 104 batters. Opponents are hitting .248 vs. Bearcat pitching.
 
Northwest is 7-1 when leading after six innings. In contrast, the Bearcats at 1-10 when trailing after six innings.
 
Junior Gaige Pinkerton tops the team in hitting with a .405 batting average and leads the squad with a .527 on-base percentage. She ranks No. 5 in the MIAA in on-base percentage and No. 5 in the league in batting average. Pinkerton has reached base in eight straight games and owns a six-game hitting streak entering play this weekend vs. No. 6-ranked Rogers State and Northeastern State.
 
Senior outfielder Lillie Filger has scored a team-best 21 runs and is batting .403. She is one of 12 MIAA players hitting .400 or better this season. Filger ranks tied for No. 4 in hits in the MIAA with 31. Filger has reached base in 14 straight games and possesses a 12-game hitting streak heading into the Rogers State-Northeastern State contests. Filger has led off an inning with 20 hits this year (20-of-34 - .588 average). Filger had a pair of two-hit games in a doubleheader loss to Augustana at home. She is credited with 58 career multi-hit games, including 10 this season. Filger has produced 16 three-hit games in her Bearcat career. Filger has tallied 177 career hits with a career average of .403 in 127 games in a Northwest uniform. Filger needs 13 more hits to enter the top-10 list for career hits as a Bearcat.
 
NORTHWEST CAREER HITS
1. 244, Rebecca Maher (2015-2018)
2. 237, Kendra Smith (1997-2000)
3. 235, Torri Blythe (2014-2017)
    235, Kaitlyn Weis (2017-2021)
5. 232, Olivia Daugherty (2019-2023)
6. 217, Erin Leslie (2007-2010)
7. 210, Chantel Adams (2014-2017)
8. 192, Katy John (2003-2006)
9. 190, Angie McCoy (2001-2004)
    190, Jaedra Moses (2016-2019)
 
Junior Omara Love is batting .395 and leads the team in slugging percentage (.566), stolen bases (9), extra-base hits (11), doubles (9) and triples (2). She ranks second on the team with 30 hits, 17 runs and 15 RBI. Love leads the MIAA in doubles (9). Love ranks tied No. 4 in the MIAA in hits (30). Love has garnered 10 two-out hits this season. She has posted nine multi-hit games this season and has 32 multi-hit games in her career.
 
Junior Alexis Brown is fourth on the squad in hitting (.384). Brown has posted eight multi-hit games this season. Brown has collected 22 career multi-hit games. 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. She was named the MIAA Hitter of the Week after she went 11-of-15 at the Alvy Early Classic.
 
Senior Skylar Pieper leads the Bearcats in RBI (19) and home runs (2). She is batting .313 with a .484 slugging percentage. Pieper has 38 multi-hit games in her Bearcat career, including seven this year. Pieper has six multi-RBI contests this season.
 
Freshman pitcher Rien Moore is 5-0 in 26 1/3 innings of work and leads the team with 27 strikeouts. She leads the MIAA in ERA (0.60), fewest hits allowed (15). And in lowest opponent batting average (.161). Moore has allowed only three extra-base hits (two doubles, one home run) against 119 batters this season. Moore has allowed six runs (four earned) on the year.
 
Sophomore pitcher Olivia Moyer has struck out 25 batters in 29 1/3 innings of work in the circle. Moyer is 1-4 with a 3.34 ERA. Moyer has made six 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 2-3 with a 3.11 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 81 wins, including 35 triumphs in MIAA action. Tellez has an overall record of 81-96. 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