ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team is returning to the NSIC Playoff Tournament for the first time since the 2014 season after finishing the conference season with a record of 13-15. The tournament is made up of the top ten NSIC teams from the final regular season standings. The Golden Bears earned the eighth seed, which sets them up to play Minot State, the number nine seed, on Thursday, May 3^rd at 10:00 a.m.
 
The tournament is being co-hosted by Sioux Falls and Augustana and will be played at both Bowden Field and Sherman Park. Winona State, as the regular season champions, earned the number one seed for the tournament, and Augustana finished as the number two seed. If the Bears win their first game, they will next face either Winona State or Augustana.
 
The winner of the NSIC Softball Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Regional Tournament. The 42-team central region is made up of teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Great American Conference (GAC). Automatic bids are awarded to the tournament champions from each conference with the final five spots awarded on an at-large basis. In all, eight teams will advance to the NCAA Regional Tournament on May 10-12, with the top two seeds in the region hosting. 
 
SERIES HISTORY VS MINOT
The Bears began playing Minot State in 2014 and have since compiled a 2-10 all-time series record against the Beavers. Seven of the games in the series have been close, being decided by four runs or less, and CSP is 1-1 when playing Minot at a neutral site. The series opened with two doubleheader splits, but since then the Beavers have swept the Bears in the last four matchups.   
 
LAST MEETING WITH MINOT
The Golden Bears are already very familiar with their playoff opponent, as they just played Minot State on Sunday, April 29^th at Carlander Field. The Beavers were on the winning end of two offensive battles, defeating the Bears 11-4 (9 innings) and 9-7. Both contests featured both teams compiling 10+ hits, but Minot used late rallies to secure the wins.
 
 Nicole Thompson, Justine Schattner, and Aryka Knoche were the offensive leaders in the doubleheader. Thompson tallied a team-high five hits between the two games, while also stealing two bases and scoring three runs. Schattner had four hits on the day and scored once in each game, and Knoche also had four hits, two of which were home runs, driving in a massive seven runs.
 
NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Golden Bears are 35-21 in their all-time NSIC Tournament history, winning the tournament in 2001, 2004, 2005, and 2006. In their last tournament appearance back in 2014, the Bears went 2-2, opening the tournament with a loss to U-Mary, defeating Sioux Falls and Minot State, before falling again to U-Mary to be eliminated.
 
CONFERENCE LEADERS
Throughout the season, the Golden Bears have had players rank near the top of the league in several different statistical categories, as well as being ranked nationally.
 
Carlie Hart leads the nation in hits, with 84 so far this season, and recently set a new Concordia single season hit record, when she recorded her 80^th hit against Winona State on Wednesday, April 25^th breaking a record held by Alicia Nortrom set in 2004.
 
Hart also ranks fifth in the NSIC in batting average (.444), second in runs scored (51), eighth in doubles (14), fourth in triples (5), fifth in total bases (117), and fourth in stolen bases (26).
 
Nicole Thompson is ranked second in the conference and fifth in the country in hits, with 75 this season, and is ranked as 15^th toughest to strike out, as she has only struck out four times in 179 at bats. The senior shortstop is also the 11^th in the NSIC in batting average (.419) and second in stolen bases (28).
 
Aryka Knoche ranks fifth in the NSIC in batters struck out with 96 and ninth in wins with 13. Joining Knoche in being ranked in the NSIC pitching statistics, is Kali Kaestner who ranks 12^th in opposing batting average, at .270.