April 8, 2004

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Games this Week
The Bemidji State softball team heads to the Concordia-St. Paul Tournament in search of its first victory of the 2004 season. The Beavers face a difficult test against the likes of three North Central Conference schools and a Minnesota State, Moorhead club that swept the Beavers on Tuesday. First off, BSU deals with MSUM at 12:00 p.m. on Friday before a 4 p.m. contest versus No. 23 St. Cloud State. The second and final day has the Beavers compete against No. 12 North Dakota State at 10:00 a.m. and North Dakota at 12:00 p.m. The Green and White lost to the Bison in the season opener in Fargo, N.D., April 1 by scores of 0-3 and 0-12.

The nine-game losing streak to open up the campaign is second-longest in school history; the 1985 team went 0-22 overall, which was part of a school-worst 27-game skid.

Last Action
In a six-game stretch last week that saw BSU drop nine games, the Beavers saw a lead just once. In the 11-1 loss to Winona State in the NSIC Crossover Saturday, BSU went up 1-0 in the top of the first thanks to a Leah Bowen RBI-groundout. The setback to WSU was one of five losses in the NSIC Crossover hosted by Wayne State. Prior to that, the Beavers opened up the season with a 3-0 and 12-0 sweep to No. 10 North Dakota State last Thursday.

Most recently, BSU was held to seven total hits in the 1-0, 8-0 NSIC sweep at the hands of MSU-Moorhead Tuesday in Moorhead, Minn. Senior hurler Leah Bowen pitched both games with perhaps her best outing coming in Game 1. Bowen allowed just one earned run on six hits while fanning four Dragons.

Beaver News & Notes
Jamie Fisher holds the lone homerun for the Beavers, smacked against SW Minnesota State, April 3, 2004...BSU is looking for its first triple of the year; along with Fisher’s homerun, Nikki Eckebrecht is credited with the other extra base hit on a double against Winona State, April 4, 2004...The last BSU win came in the NSIC Tournament with a 10-1 win over Concordia-St. Paul - a span of 11 games...The 11-game overall losing streak is the most since a 12-game slide in 1992...The Beavers have been shut-out in five of the nine games this season and average just 3.1 hits per contest...Megan Woslager and Jenna Grimsrud lead the team with a two-hit game - Woslager did it twice against Northern State (4/4/04) and MSU-Moorhead (4/6/04) while Grimsrud accomplished the feat versus Northern State (4/4/04)...Woslager is tops on the club with a .300 batting averaged (six-of-20)...Grimsurd is a perfect two-for-two on stolen base attempts...The Beavers have been out-scored 21-1 in the first inning this year - eight of nine opponents have been able to plate at least one run in the first frame.

Home-Cooking
Perhaps with the least amount of home games in the country, the Beavers will play host to two opponents during the course of the 2004 season. BSU welcomes North Dakota, April 12 and Minnesota Duluth, April 20. Both twinbills are scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. at the BSU softball complex. UMD’s visit will be the last when it is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference - the Bulldogs begin play in the North Central Conference for the 2004-05 season.

Series History
• vs. Minnesota State-Moorhead: 22-30 - won four of last six
• vs. St. Cloud State: 3-32 - lost 14 straight
• vs. North Dakota State: 16-31 - lost 14 straight
• vs. North Dakota: 12-25 - lost four straight

What to Look For in 2004
The Bemidji State University softball team, which finished 9-14 overall last year and sixth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings, will be looking towards the 2004 season with lots of youth and high hopes. Of the six letter winners returning, five of them are either juniors or seniors. However, of the other eight on the line-up card, four will be in their first season at BSU.

Four players from the 2003 club, including the top hitter and pitcher in Katie Hurst, are lost to graduation. Head coach Amanda Went feels that it will be a tough job to fill those holes but the second-year general remains optimistic.

“We lost four seniors and somehow we have to fill those positions,” said Went. “I think the girls are ready and have caught on to the fact that they have to fill those voids. Thus far, some of the underclassmen have stepped up and taken on a bigger role.”

Head Coach Amanda Went
Amanda Went became the 11th softball coach in school history, Sept. 12, 2002. An assistant women’s basketball coach at BSU, Went led her 2003 team to a 9-14 overall record in her rookie campaign. She mentored three All-NSIC performers and took her team to the sixth-spot in the NSIC rankings. Overall, Went is 9-23 (.281) in her second season of softball duties.

Went, who is assisted by first year coach Jennifer Anderson, received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska in 2001. The four-year Nebraska basketball letterwinner spent one season prior to her BSU arrival as a basketball graduate assistant at Nebraska-Kearney.

2004 BSU Team Highs
• At Bats - 28 vs. Northern State, Apr. 4 • Runs - 2 vs. SW Minn. State, Apr. 3
• Hits - 7 vs. Northern State, Apr. 4 • RBI’s - 2 vs. SW Minn. State, Apr. 3
• Doubles - 1 vs. Winona St. Apr. 4 • Home Runs - 1 vs. SW Minn. State, Apr. 3
• Total Bases - 7, twice • Walks - 4 vs. Northern State, Apr. 4
• Strikeouts - 14 vs. N. Dakota St. Apr. 1 • Sac Hits - 3 vs. MSU-Moorhead, Apr. 6
• Stolen Bases - 2 vs. Northern St., Apr. 4 • Hit by Pitch - 1 vs. Winona State, Apr. 4
• Caught Stealing - 1 vs. Winona St., Apr. 4 • Runners LOB - 10 vs. Northern St., Apr. 4

2004 BSU Individual Highs
• At Bats - 4, three players
• Runs Scored - 1, five players
• Hits - 2, three players
• RBI’s - 1, four players
• Doubles - 1 by Nikki Eckebrecht vs. Winona State, Apr. 4
• Home Runs - 1 by Jamie Fisher vs. SW Minnesota State, Apr. 3
• Total Bases - 4 by Jamie Fisher vs. SW Minnesota State, Apr. 3
• Walks - 1, by eight players
• Strikeouts - 4 by Jamie Fisher vs. Northern State, Apr. 4
• Sac Hits - 2 by Jamie Fisher vs. MSU-Moorhead, Apr. 6
• Stolen Bases - 2 by Jenna Grimsrud vs. Northern State, Apr. 4
• Hit by Pitch - 1 by Kris Carlson vs. Winona State, Apr. 4
• Caught Stealing - 1 by Kris Carlson vs. Winona State, Apr. 4
• Runners LOB - 4 by Lauren Wilson vs. Northern State, Apr. 4 &
Leah Bowen vs. Northern State, Apr. 4