Tuesday, March 18 – Warrensburg, Mo.
Northwest Missouri State at Central Missouri, 3 p.m./5 p.m. (Doubleheader)
MIAA NETWORK | LIVE STATS
 
Saturday, March 22 – Kearney, Neb.
Northwest Missouri State at Nebraska-Kearney, 1 p.m./3 p.m. (Doubleheader)
MIAA NETWORK | LIVE STATS
 
Sunday, March 23 – Hays, Kan.
Northwest Missouri State at Fort Hays State, 1 p.m./3 p.m. (Doubleheader)
MIAA NETWORK | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
 
The Northwest Missouri State University softball team will hit the road this week for a trio of MIAA doubleheaders.
 
The Bearcats (10-15 overall, 0-4 MIAA) will play at Central Missouri (12-10 overall, 1-3 MIAA) Tuesday followed by a Saturday matchup at Nebraska-Kearney (13-14 overall, 1-3 MIAA) and a Sunday twin bill at Fort Hays State (16-6 overall, 3-1 MIAA).
 
Northwest will look to snap out of a season-long six-game losing streak. The Bearcats have dropped three straight home doubleheaders No. 7-ranked Augustana, No. 6-ranked Rogers State and unranked Northeastern State.
 
Northwest has outscored its opponents in the first two innings of games this season, 48-17. Northwest owns a 32-15 scoring advantage in the first inning and an 18-2 lead in the second inning. Overall, the Bearcats have outscored the opposition, 116-108.
 
Northwest is hitting .309 as a squad, which ranks No. 7 in the MIAA. Northwest is 10-4 when it has more hits than its opponent. The Bearcats are 0-11 when they have the same or fewer hits than their opponents.
 
The Bearcats possess a 3.74 team earned run average through 25 games. Bearcat pitchers have struck out 133 batters. Opponents are hitting .263 vs. Bearcat pitching.
 
Northwest is 7-1 when leading after six innings. In contrast, the Bearcats at 1-14 when trailing after six innings.
 
Senior outfielder Lillie Filger has scored a team-best 23 runs and is batting .418. Filger ranks No. 9 in the MIAA in batting average. 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 38. Filger has 10 stolen bases to rank No. 10 in the MIAA. Filger has led off an inning with 25 hits this year (25-of-41 - .610 average). She is credited with 61 career multi-hit games, including 13 this season. Filger has produced 17 three-hit games in her Bearcat career. Filger needs six more hits to enter the top-10 list for career hits as a Bearcat. Filger has tallied 184 career hits with a career average of .406 in 129 games in a Northwest uniform, which would rank her No. 1 in Bearcat history.
 
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)
 
NORTHWEST CAREER BATTING AVERAGE (min. 250 AB)
1. - Lillie Filger (2023-pres.) - .406 (184-453)
2. - Kendra Smith (1997-2000) - .396 (236-596)
3. - Stephanie Mark (2014-2015) - .388 (126-325)
4. - Kaitlyn Weis (2017-2021) - .382 (235-615)
5. - Casey Carper (2008-2009) - .368 (117-318)
6. - Rebecca Maher (2015-2018) - .361 (244-675)
7. - Olivia Daugherty (2019-2023) - .356 (232-652
8. - S. Armstrong (1991-1993) - .345 (89-258)
9. - Erin Leslie (2007-2010) - .344 (217-631)
10. - Amanda Urquhart (1997-2000) - .341 (189-554)
11. - Megan Spring (2001-2004) - .341 (189-555)
 
Junior Alexis Brown is second on the squad in hitting (.400). Brown has posted 10 multi-hit games this season. Brown has collected 24 career multi-hit games. Brown is tied for No. 9 in the MIAA in hits (34). 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.
 
Junior Gaige Pinkerton ranks No. 3 on the team in hitting with a .370 batting average and leads the squad with a .507 on-base percentage. She ranks No. 10 in the MIAA in on-base percentage.
 
Junior Omara Love is batting .370. She leads the team in stolen bases (12), extra-base hits (11), doubles (9) and triples (2). She ranks tied for second on the team with 34 hits, 19 runs and 15 RBI. Love is tied for third in the MIAA in doubles (9). Love has garnered 11 two-out hits this season. She has posted 11 multi-hit games this season and has 34 multi-hit games in her career.
 
Senior Skylar Pieper leads the Bearcats in RBI (23) and home runs (3). She is batting .325 with a team-best .532 slugging percentage. Pieper has 39 multi-hit games in her Bearcat career, including eight this year. Pieper has eight multi-RBI contests this season.
 
Freshman pitcher Rien Moore is 5-1 in 30 1/3 innings of work and ranks second on the team with 34 strikeouts. She ranks No. 1 in the MIAA in fewest hits allowed (21), No. 5 in the MIAA in ERA (1.85) and No. 6 in lowest opponent batting average (.191).
 
Sophomore pitcher Olivia Moyer has struck out a team-high 35 batters in 36 1/3 innings of work in the circle. Moyer is 1-4 with a 3.28 ERA. Moyer has made seven starts this season. Moyer tied a season-high with eight strikeouts in four innings of relief against Northeastern State. Her previous season high if eight strikeouts came in a start against Upper Iowa when she went six innings in the circle.
 
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 3.61 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 81-100. She is 35-47 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