ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Golden Bear women's softball team (25-28, 17-11 NSIC) heads to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to compete in the NSIC Tournament on Thursday, May 1. The No. 6 seed Golden Bears face No. 3 seed Winona State (40-13, 21-7 NSIC) in the first round of the tournament at 5:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears went 3-1 this past weekend against Sioux Falls (S.D.) (21-29, 9-19 NSIC) and Wayne State (Neb.) (30-23, 14-13 NSIC). Seniors Erica McCullough and Sydney Pelzer shone on Senior Day to sweep the Cougars. 

McCullough pitched a complete-game shutout in the 4-0 game one victory. She only allowed one hit and struck out a team-high two batters. Pelzer batted 4-5 on the day with a two-run homer in a 5-3 game two victory. 

In the series with the Wildcats, McCullough kept up her hot streak throwing five strikeouts in an 8-1 game one victory. Pelzer added a pair of 2RBI singles as well in the win. Junior Riley Rosenthal added a two-run homer in the sixth inning. 

CSP lost a wild and tight game two, 7-6, led by Rosenthal and Katie Klotz each with two hits. Klotz had a team-high two RBIs including a double. 

SEASON LEADERS
Pelzer improved her averages on the weekend now slashing .399/.473/.758 with 61 hits, 16 doubles, 13 home runs and 61 RBIs. Overall, Pelzer is sixth in the NSIC in batting average, second in slugging percentage and fourth in on-base percentage. She has the third-most home runs and second-most RBIs. 

Nationally, Pelzer ranks 11th in RBIs, 40th in doubles, 35th in home runs and 36th in total bases. In conference-only play, the senior has a .427 batting average, a .841 slugging percentage, a 1.325 OPS, 10 home runs and 40 RBIs. All of those stats led the NSIC this year in conference play. 

Monty is second on the team slashing .338./.398/.538 with 58 hits, 13 doubles, three triples and five home runs. She has 30 RBIs and has scored a team-high 45 runs. She's eighth in the NSIC and 80th in the nation in runs scored. 

Rachel Novak is third on the team slashing .302/.352/.430 with eight doubles, a triple and three home runs. Ava Blake is slashing .286/.389/.316 with a pair of doubles and a triple. Rosenthal is slashing .276/.295/.405 with five doubles, two triples and four home runs.

Klotz is batting .262 with seven doubles and three home runs. Bryleigh Dana is batting .252 with seven doubles and five homers. Lily Burke is batting .240 with three doubles, two triples and a homer. Emily Knoblauch has a .333 batting average in 36 at-bats and one home run after hitting it this weekend. 

On the mound, Emmy Bowne leads CSP with a 3.53 ERA in a team-high 125 innings pitched. She's also thrown a team-high 53 strikeouts with eight complete games and three shutouts. 

McCullough has a 3.90 ERA in 79 innings pitched while throwing 50 strikeouts. She's allowed opponents to a team-best .250 batting average and has thrown four complete games this season. 

Tatum Dunlavy has a 5.23 ERA in 107 innings pitched. She's thrown 50 strikeouts and has a team-high 10 complete games. Dunlavy also has a team-high 10 wins on the mound. 

As a team, the Golden Bears have a .277 batting average this season ranking 10th in the NSIC. The team's .420 slugging percentage ranks seventh and 4.35 ERA ranks ninth. The Golden Bears are batting 3.03 in conference play ranking sixth and slugging .483 ranking fourth. 

RECORD WATCH
Pelzer ranks first in RBIs in a season (61) and career RBIs (166). She ranks third in home runs in a season (13) and sixth in career home runs (24). She is second for slugging percentage in a season (.758). Pelzer has 50 career doubles, tying for the second most in program history. With one more, she can tie Amanda Yurek from 2004-07 for the most. 

Monty continues to lead all-time in career batting average (.413), slugging percentage (.604) and on-base percentage (.468). Her 35 career doubles are tied for the most in a career. 

McCullough is tied for the fifth-most wins in a career in program history with 48. She's had the seventh-most career strikeouts with 308. Novak has the eighth-highest stolen base percentage at .891. 

The Golden Bears went 11-1 at home this season, tying for the fewest losses at home in a season. The 11 home wins mark the third-most in a single season in program history. 

NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Golden Bears have won four NSIC Tournament Championships in 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2006. This year marks the seventh consecutive season the Golden Bears have made the NSIC Tournament.

NSIC TOURNAMENT FIELD
No. 11 Augustana (S.D.) (43-9, 25-3 NSIC) won the NSIC regular season and earned the top seed in the NSIC tournament. The Vikings will face Wednesday's winner between No. 8 seed Wayne State (Neb.) (30-23, 14-13 NSIC) and No. 9 Southwest Minnesota State (29-25, 11-17 NSIC) on Thursday at 12:30 p.m.

No. 4 seed St. Cloud State (41-14, 20-7 NSIC) will face No. 5 seed Minnesota Duluth (38-16, 18-8 NSIC) at 10 a.m. on Thursday. The winner will play in the semifinals on Friday, May 2 at noon

No. 2 seed Minnesota State (37-17, 21-7 NSIC) will play the winner of Wednesday's game between No. 7 seed Minot State (N.D.) (27-24, 15-13 NSIC) and No. 10 seed MSU Moorhead (19-36, 11-17 NSIC). 

CSP or Winona State will play the winner of the Minnesota State quarterfinal game in the semifinals on Friday, May 2 at 2:30 p.m. The NSIC Championship is scheduled for Saturday, May 3 at noon.

Winona State - Thursday, May 1 at 5:30 p.m.
Series Record: WSU 41, CSP 14

The Warriors have won four straight contests and 21 of the last 22 games against the Golden Bears dating back to 2012. Both teams are even all-time in neutral site games at 5-5. 

CSP and WSU faced off on Wednesday, March 26 in a doubleheader. The Warriors won the first game, 13-3, and the second game, 10-1, in five innings. Sophomore Alyssa Woelfel had a day for the Warriors with six hits including three home runs and six RBIs. Monty, Burke, Novak and Pelzer led CSP with two hits each. 

Senior Sam Keller leads Winona State slashing .422/.527/.671 with 17 doubles, four triples and five doubles. She's second in the NSIC this season in batting average and is tied for the most doubles. Keller has a 1.198 OPS, ranking third in the conference. 

Sophomore Indigo Fish is slashing .372/.424/.445 with seven doubles and a home run along with 30 RBIs. Tiegan Mancuso is batting .363 with five doubles. Jaden Johnson is batting .333 with six doubles and a triple. 

Woelfel is slashing .325/.385/.576 with seven doubles, two triples and nine home runs. Junior Bryn Elsenpeter is slashing .311/.414/.631 with 12 doubles and nine home runs. Sophomore Kiley Sltss has a .308 batting average with eight doubles and three homers. 

Freshman Braelee Jodarski has emerged slashing .299/.355/.669 with a team-high 16 home runs. Logan Anderson is batting .297 with the second-most doubles on the team with 14. 

On the mound, junior Izzy Howe has a 2.10 ERA in 176.1 innings pitched. She's thrown 196 strikeouts, which is tied for the most in the NSIC this season. Howe has a 20-7 record with six shutouts.

Sophomore Jayda Berg has a 2.32 ERA in 156.2 innings pitched. She's thrown 61 strikeouts and has only walked four batters all season. Berg has a 19-6 record with five shutouts. 

The Warriors lead the conference in team batting average at .330. They are second in slugging percentage at .509 and first in on-base percentage at .411. Winona State has a team ERA of 2.29, ranking fourth in the conference. 

Head coach Greg Jones is in his 25th season with Winona State. He is a six-time NSIC Tournament Champion with the most recent in 2018. He has a 1002-339-4 record in his career, giving him the ninth-highest winning percentage all-time in Division II.