ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team will travel to St. Cloud State this weekend to partake in the Kelly Laas Memorial Invitational to open up their season Friday to Saturday.
 
Concordia opens up play against Minnesota State at 1:30 pm and Augustana at 3:30 pm on Friday before taking on Viterbo (Wis.) at 5 pm and Sioux Falls at 9 pm on Saturday. The games against Minnesota State, Augustana, and Sioux Falls will not count as conference games.
 
Head coach Bob Bartel enters his 13th season at the helm and he brings back 13 letter winners (nine starters) from last year's young squad led by Nicole Thompson, Justine Schattner and Liz Jarosz who should anchor the lineup once again. All three players played in and started more than 43 games and hit above .309 for the season.
 
Schattner led the team in hits (58), batting average (.374), RBI (41) and tied for first in home runs (4) as a true freshman. Jarosz led the team in doubles (13) and tied for first in home runs (4) while placing second in RBI (25) and total bases (67). Thompson placed second on the team in batting average (.372) and hits (48) while placing third on the team in RBI (18).
 
The Golden Bears' full non-conference slate features 22 games against tough opponents from all across the country as they travel to St. Cloud, Arkansas and Florida before kicking off NSIC play at the end of March. Concordia hopes to use that schedule to get prepared and build some momentum heading into the challenging NSIC season.

Scouting Minnesota State
- MSU went 45-17 overall and 23-6 in route to their fourth NSIC Championships last season
- The Mavericks return nine letter winners, including seven starters and six All-NSIC honorees
- Senior pitcher, Coley Ries was named NSIC Pitcher of the Year last year and sophomore McKenzie Paap was named NSIC Freshman of the Year
- Ries received All-American honors from both the NFCA and D2CCA for her efforts
- Paap received All-Central Region First Team honors from the NFCA and D2CCA
- MSU will also see the return of Dana Mongren, Ashley Thell, Libby Bemis and Jess Meidl, all of whom were named to the All-NSIC Second Team last season
- As a team last season, the Mavericks batted .317 and led the conference in stolen bases (136), hits (537) and fielding% (.974)
- In the circle, the Mavericks led the conference in ERA (1.76), shutouts (20), hits (272), strikeouts (567) and opponent batting average (.179).
- Minnesota State was picked to finish first in the NSIC Preseason Poll and received 15 of the 16 first place votes
- Concordia is 15-30 all-time against MSU with their last win coming back in 2015 by a score of 4-2 in Mankato
- The Mavericks won last year's double-header by scores of 5-1 and 10-2, respectively
 
Scouting Augustana
- Augustana finished 35-19 in 2016, including 21-8 in NSIC play. The Vikings missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009 
- The Vikings welcome 13 players on the 2017 roster, including nine returners
- AU returns three All-NSIC First Team selections from last season, including senior Sarah Kennedy, junior Maggie Kadrlik and sophomore Shannon Petersen
- Kennedy is a three-time All-NSIC First Team selection for the Vikings who earned NFCA All-America First Team honors in 2015
- Kadrlik was recently named to the Fastpitch News Preseason All-America First Team as she batted .412 and led the NSIC with 17 home runs in 2016
- Kadrlik was also named Preseason Player of the Year in the NSIC Preseason Poll
 
- Peterson had a strong freshman campaign for the Vikings in 2016 batting .345 with 14 home runs and eight doubles while driving in 45 runs
- Augustana was picked to finish fourth in the Preseason Poll while falling just four points shy of third place
- Concordia is 5-20 all-time against the Vikings with their last win coming back in 2010 by a score of 2-0. AU was also ranked #16 nationally at the time
- Augustana won last year's double-header by scores of 3-0 and 8-5, respectively
 
Scouting Viterbo (Wis.)
- Viterbo finished 10-43 overall in 2016 while going 3-20 in NSAA play
- The V-Hawks lost nine players from last year's, but return nine letter winners
- VU must replace Anna Lensmire who led the team in batting average (.370), runs (46), hits (67), doubles (10), and triples (3), homeruns (9), total bases (110) and slugging percentage (.608)
- Sophomore Kelsey Ludwig was named All-NSAA second team as a true freshman last season
- Ludwig posted a .335 batting average with 58 total hits and 16 runs batted in
- She ranked third on the team in average and second in both runs and hits
- In conference play, Ludwig led Viterbo with a .395 average and 30 hits including six for extra bases
- Concordia will play the V-Hawks for the first time in program history
 
Scouting Sioux Falls
- University of Sioux Falls is coming off their most successful season at the NCAA Division II level as they went 34-20 overall and 17-11 in NSIC play
- USF returns seven letter winners from last year's squad but must replace five starters
- The Cougars return both starting pitchers Breanna Black and Kerrigan Hoshaw, who combined for a 33-20 record with a combined 3.25 earned run average
- Hoshaw returns with the highest batting average after posting a .367 mark with 33 hits and 16 RBI
- Brittany Hoffman, Megan Peterson, and Emily Hove each started in every game last season, combining for 75 hits and 26 RBI
- The 2017 Cougars roster features 10 freshmen who will all look to contribute to the team, who have improved their record each season under fourth-year head coach Kelsey Thompson
- Sioux Falls was picked to finish fifth in the NSIC Preseason Poll and were 24 points behind the fourth place slot
- Concordia is 2-5 all-time against the Cougars with their last win coming in 2014 by a score of 7-5 in Sioux Falls
- USF won both games in last year's double-header by scores of 9-3 and 6-0, respectively