TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State Softball makes its final, and longest, road trip of the season this weekend. It will travel to Nebraska Kearney Friday and Fort Hays State Saturday to close the four-game weekend.

THE LEAD OFF

1. The RiverHawks are 21-14-1 on the season and 9-8-1 in conference play. They are 4-3-1 on the road. 
2. NSU is currently eighth in the MIAA standings.
3. Fans are asked to socially distance the best they can at both ballparks. The Lopers require that fans are placed on the player pass list for free admission. FHSU does not require tickets.

THE BIG BATS

• There are five batters hitting over .291 for the RiverHawks and the team has a .293 average with a .520 slugging.
• Rhomie Bradshaw leads the team batting .364 with 20 extra base hits. Freshman designated player Chloe Bohuslavicky hits .339, has eight home runs and 30 RBI on the season. Alyssia Crick leads the run scoring effort with 11 home runs to go with 31 RBI and is fourth in the conference with a .787 slugging percentage. She gets on base at the seventh-best percentage in the MIAA and she and Bradshaw rank third and fourth in conference home runs, respectively.
• Carly Kelley, who was out with injury, has made her return to the lineup in a big way and moved over from third to play second base. She is hitting .348 and tied for the team lead with two triples. Addie Elbon (.299) and Addy Wolfe (.291) make up the other top two in the lineup. The senior right fielder, Elbon, was a triple shy of the cycle in the win over Rogers State. NSU's shortstop, Megan Green, is fourth in the conference with 20 walks and gets on base at a .370 clip.
• NSU leads the conference with 46 long balls, eight more than the next best, which is third nationally and is 11th nationally in doubles (63). The RiverHawks' team slugging percentage of .520 is 21th of all Division II teams that have played 20 or more games.

IN THE CIRCLE

• Gail Young (13-7) has thrown 6.2 more innings than any other conference pitcher and her 15 complete games is the sixth-most nationally. She has 58 wins in her career, two off of Kayce Wooldridge (2013-16), who holds NSU's NCAA era mark for wins by a starting pitcher. 
• Jenna Chassie, a 2021 transfer, leads the team with a 3.17 ERA and is coming off a complete game effort in which she held No. 24 Rogers State to one run. She has 10 quality starts.
• NSU has a 3.51 team ERA.

LAST WEEKEND RECAP 

• NSU split its series with Rogers State at home. The RiverHawks fell is Game 1 after they were held to hits the final four frames. In Game 2, Elbon was 3-3 with four RBI and Chassie tossed a gem to give NSU a 5-2 win.
• Bradshaw was 4-7 and the RiverHawks hit three home runs in the two-game weekend.

ABOUT THE FOES
Nebraska Kearney 12-22 (3-15 in MIAA) – Friday April 23 2/4 p.m.

• NSU holds a 10-4 advantage since 2014 but did drop both games the last time in Kearney.
• The Lopers have had 18 of their games decided by two runs or less.
• UNK hits .293 on the year, sixth in the conference. The achilles heel for the Lopers has been fielding where they sport a .923 percentage.
• In the circle, six different pitchers have thrown with five making starts. The staff has a 5.08 collective ERA and allows opposing batters to hit .339.

Fort Hays State 19-17 (12-6 in MIAA) – Saturday April 24 12/2 p.m.

• Since 2007, the series is tied at nine wins apiece. The RiverHawks split the 2019 series in Hays.
• The Lopers have had 18 of their games decided by two runs or less.
• FHSU hits .274 this season, which is 11th in the MIAA, and slug just .357.
• Four different pitchers have combined for a 2.56 ERA. Michaelanne Nelson is third in the conference with a 2.08 mark. She leads the MIAA with 36 strikeouts looking.

UP NEXT: NSU will close the regular season at home by hosting Washburn and Emporia State next weekend.