MADISON, S.D. – The North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) announced its final installment of the Softball Players-of-the-Week Monday by the conference office. Valley City State (N.D.) swept the weekly honors as Emilee Wilson was selected as the Pitcher-of-the-Week for the second straight week. Her teammate Voni Culp was named Player-of-the-Week.
North Star Athletic Association Softball Pitcher-of-the-Week
Emilee Wilson – Valley City State (N.D.) – 5’7″ – Freshman – Pitcher – Esko, Minn. – Wilson allowed just one run and two walks in 18 2/3 innings this week as No. 7-ranked Valley City State (N.D.) went 8-0 record for the week. For the week, she posted an earned run average (ERA) of 0.38 and gave up eight hits. She struck out a total of 18 batters for the week. In conference play, Wilson leads the NSAA in ERA (0.91), opponent batting average (.167), hits allowed per game (4.26) and earned runs allowed (9), and ranks second in conference wins (12).
North Star Athletic Association Softball Player-of-the-Week
Voni Culp – Valley City State (N.D.) – 5’3″ – Senior – Infielder – Sacramento, Calif. – Culp reached base in her first 13 appearances against Presentation (S.D.) (9 hits, 4 walks), fueling No. 7-ranked Valley City State (N.D.) to an 8-0 record for the week. She finished the PC series by going 11-of-12 at the plate and reached base 15 times in 16 plate appearances. Culp scored 13 runs this week as she set a new school record for single-season with 62 runs. She recorded a fielding percentage of 1.000 during the week with 29 chances at second base. For the week, Culp registered a batting average of .625 (15-of-24 at-bats), three doubles, a triple, five walks and drove in seven runs. She also swiped seven bases.
Recap from last week’s games
No. 7-ranked Valley City State (N.D.) earned the North Star Athletic Association softball regular-season conference outright after going 8-0 record for the week. The Vikings swept Mayville State (N.D.) in the NSAA’s four games series, winning 7-1 and 1-0 in Mayville, N.D. on April 23. VCSU followed up with 4-2 and 5-0 home victories on April 24. Valley City State swept Presentation (S.D.) 8-0 in six innings and 14-1 in five innings on April 26 in Aberdeen, S.D. The Vikings returned home with another doubleheader sweep over the Saints, winning 9-0 and 20-1 both in five innings. Valley City State lifted their overall record to 46-3 and 26-2 NSAA conference record, extending their winning streak to 13 games.
Bellevue (Neb.) receiving votes in the latest NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 national poll, also extended their winning streak to 12 games after closing their regular-season schedule with a 6-0 record. The Bruins held to sweep Dakota State (S.D.) on the road on April 24, winning 4-2 and 8-7. BU concluded their season with a four-game series sweep over Waldorf (Iowa), winning 9-8 and 13-1 in five innings on April 27 followed by 4-0 and 13-4 in six innings victories on April 28. Bellevue is 41-16 overall record on the season and 23-5 NSAA conference record.
Mayville State (N.D.) split their home four-game series with Dickinson State (N.D.). The Comets dropped the series opener 4-2 to the Blue Hawks, but bounced back with a 3-2 victory in the second game on April 26. MSU won in a 2-1 nine-inning affair in the first game on April 27 before DiSU closed out with a 4-3 victory. Mayville State is 23-16 overall record and 16-11 record in North Star conference play.
Dickinson State closed out their home schedule with identical scores of 6-0 over Presentation on April 24. The Blue Hawks are 25-22 overall record and 15-13 NSAA conference record. Presentation is 4-40 overall record and 3-25 record in league play.
Waldorf (Iowa) earned a pair of home walk-off victories over Viterbo (Wis.) on April 24. The Warriors won the first game 1-0 in eight innings, followed by a 3-2 win in the second game. WU is 14-30 overall record and 11-17 record in NSAA conference play.
Dakota State took the first game of the tripleheader at Viterbo on April 28, winning 5-1. The V-Hawks closed out the regular-season by taking the final two games over the Trojans by the scores of 6-2 and 4-1. Viterbo is 15-28 overall record and 10-16 NSAA conference record. Dakota State is 9-33 overall record and 6-21 record in conference games.
Looking Ahead
Valley City State (N.D.) is the top overall seed for the 2019 North Star Athletic Association conference postseason tournament, which get underway on Thursday morning at VCSU Softball Complex in Valley City, N.D. The Vikings takes on No. 8 seed Presentation (S.D.) at 10 a.m., followed by No. 4 seed Dickinson State (N.D.)-No. 5 seed Waldorf (Iowa) match-up at 12 p.m. in the Gold Bracket.
No. 2 seed Bellevue (Neb.) opens up the tournament play against No. 7 seed Dakota State (S.D.) on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. in the Navy Bracket. No. 3 seed Mayville State (N.D.) takes on No. 6 seed Viterbo (Wis.) in the second game at 12 p.m.
The double-elimination tournament continues through Sunday. The winner of the conference tournament will receive the NSAA’s automatic bid to the NAIA Softball National Tournament on May 13-15.
Check the NSAA website for the complete schedule.