TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State returns home for a doubleheader on Friday against #23 Pittsburg State, beginning at 12 p.m. Friday's meeting marks the Indigenous Peoples Game at RiverHawks Park.
The RiverHawks (14-28, 7-13 MIAA) split four matchups across Sunday and Monday against Fort Hays State and Nebraska Kearney.
Key Players to Watch:
- Madison Heinle went the distance from the circle in the late game of Monday's doubleheader against UNK, picking up her sixth win of the season and earning her 300th career strikeout in the process. Heinle became the first NSU individual since Gail Young in 2021 to reach the milestone, while the senior added a base hit in the 8-5 win over the Lopers.
- Korynn Tindel enters Friday with a nine-game hitting streak, while the redshirt sophomore has logged multiple base hits in four straight appearances. Tindel holds the top batting average (.378) on the team and ranks among the top of the MIAA in triples with five.
- Maddie Messenger (.344, 11 2B, four HR, 23 RBI) enters Friday with a base hit and/or a run scored in seven of her last eight games. The sophomore homered during last season's doubleheader against the Gorillas.
Pittsburg State (31-9, 12-2 MIAA) enters Friday with the longest active winning streak in the MIAA at ten games, though four of PSU's last five victories have been decided by three runs or less. This includes their most recent win over Missouri Western on Tuesday (5-4). The Gorillas have ranked at #23 in back-to-back weeks in the NFCA/Go Rout Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll and own a record of 4-5 in true road games on the campaign.
PSU possesses the top hitter in Division II softball in Heather Arnett. Arnett paces all qualified individuals in the nation with a .525 batting average, collecting hits on 74 of 141 at-bats. The Gorillas hold the eighth-highest batting average (.351) across all teams in DII softball, while the team ranks second in the MIAA in home runs (35) and run production (258). The pitching staff boasts the fourth-lowest earned run average (2.57) in the conference, while they pace the league with 256 strikeouts.
