TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State will continue their MIAA schedule on the road this week with a pair of doubleheaders against Emporia State and Washburn in Kansas.

The team will seek to take their first conference win of the Rhode era after dropping two the previous week at Rogers State. 

The Setup
- Northeastern State is in its first season with Rachel Rhode as the head softball coach.  She has experience as an assistant at Truman State (2021-22) and Bemidji State (2019-20).
- The RiverHawks enter the campaign after a 30-win result in 2023, the team's sixth straight winning season and their second 30-win effort since 2018. A 12-14 MIAA record resulted in NSU missing the league's postseason tournament for the second time in three seasons. 
- Northeastern State's 26-game MIAA schedule continues with this week's doubleheaders.

Around the Diamond
- The Northeastern State bats will aim to get back on track this week after being limited to one run across three games last week. Notably, they were shut out across their doubleheader to open MIAA play against Rogers State last Saturday. 
- NSU pitching has been strong of late, as the duo of Madison Heinle and Korynn Tindel have only seen a combined six earned runs against them across the team's last seven games. 
- Addy Wolfe was the only NSU player to record a base hit in multiple contests last week and scored the team's only run across the week against Southeastern Oklahoma on Mar. 5. Wolfe holds the team lead in runs scored (12), while she holds the highest batting average (.311) of all active players on the roster. 
- The early innings were more troublesome for NSU last week, as RSU scored all of their runs across Saturday's doubleheader in the second and third frames. 
- Macie Sawney stole her fifth base of the campaign against Southeastern Oklahoma on Mar. 5. Sawney holds the team lead in steals, accounting for almost half of their 12 swiped bags 19 games into the 2024 season.

Northeastern State at Emporia State (Mar. 15 at 2 p.m., 4 p.m.) // Live Coverage

About Emporia State (16-10, 1-3 MIAA) 
- The Lady Hornets got conference ball started in commanding fashion, taking a 15-4 win over Newman in five innings in their opener last Saturday afternoon before dropping three straight to end the weekend, one to the Jets and two more to Central Oklahoma.
- April Rosales is in her ninth season as the head softball coach at Emporia State. The Lady Hornets will seek to build off a 33-win season in 2023 under her watch, the most since 2017. Prior to being named the tenth head softball coach in program history, she spent seven seasons as an assistant with the Hornets.
- Alexis Dial leads a trio of Lady Hornets hitting into .400 territory with a .468 average alongside four home runs and nine doubles. Bailey Flewelling holds the team lead in homers with five and holds a .423 average, while Lexi Williams is swinging at a .407 clip. 
- The Lady Hornets rank third in the MIAA in batting average (.331) and home runs (20), but they sit in the league's bottom half in ERA (3.98) and strikeouts (88). 

Series Notes
- Emporia State holds a two-game lead in the series, 21-19 over Northeastern State.
- The RiverHawks and Lady Hornets split last season's doubleheader in Tahlequah.
- ESU has won nine of the last 11. 

Northeastern State at Washburn (Mar. 16 at 12 p.m., 2 p.m.) // Live Coverage

About Washburn (21-7, 2-2 MIAA) 
- The Ichabods took a pair of losses to begin MIAA action last Saturday against Central Oklahoma before taking a sweep the next day over Newman. 
- Washburn will host Rogers State on Friday before entertaining the RiverHawks on Saturday.
- Brenda Holaday is in her eighth season as the head softball coach at Washburn. Holaday's led the Ichabods to two MIAA regular season championships, in addition to two NCAA postseason appearances. The two-time MIAA Coach of the Year spent previous time in Topeka at the high school level, serving in the same position for 19 seasons at Washburn Rural High School.
- WU holds positions near the top of the league in batting average (.349, second), runs (163, second), walks drawn (82) and steals (44). Their pitching has been equally strong, as Sadie Walker (11-4, 8 CG, 0.96 ERA, 83 SO) leads a pitching staff that ranks second in the conference in ERA (1.51) and strikeouts (173). 

Series Notes
- Washburn leads 16-15. 
- The teams split a duo of extra inning matchups in Tahlequah last season, playing 19 innings combined across the doubleheader at RiverHawks Park. 
- Washburn has won four of the last five. 

Coming Up
Northeastern State opens their MIAA home schedule with Pittsburg State (Mar. 22) and Missouri Southern (Mar. 23).