KARI GIBB/MDN Minot State University junior Abbey Kelley (7) makes the play at first base for an out in game one of a doubleheader on Friday. The Beavers softball team claimed 4-0 and 10-0 wins over Southwest Minnesota State to earn the sweep.

The Minot State University softball team doesn’t lead the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) in batting (6th), pitching (4th) or in fielding where they rank second. What the Beavers do lead the NSIC in is winning with a 6-0 conference record, which is good enough to have Minot State tied for first place with Concordia-St. Paul in the standings. The Golden Bears are 24-6 overall while the Beavers are 11-7 this season.

While not leading statistically, MSU is currently on a six game winning streak.

“Coach (Bobby) Verdugo and (Jamie) Odlum do an outstanding job helping me find the game strategies that will work,” said Beavers’ softball head coach Sal Rodriguez. “We watch film, develop the strategy, get the players up to speed on the plan and they go out and execute.”

The team has six seniors, three graduate students, six juniors, seven sophomores and three freshmen on the team.

“The players take such ownership of the team,” said Rodriguez. “The senior leaders show the younger players what it takes to improve – what work needs to be put in. They organize team building functions on their own. They come in and work on skills and technique on their own. We challenged them to control their energy level and enthusiasm and they have taken ownership of that as well.”

That energy was obvious in the doubleheader played at the MSU Bubble against Southwest Minnesota State Friday. The Beavers were 4-0, and 10-0 victors over the visiting Mustangs.

“We talked about controlling that energy regardless of any slump or not,” said Rodriguez. “Hitting is contagious. Defense is contagious. Having that energy and enthusiasm goes a long way.”

Rodriguez was the interim head coach for six games in the 2023 season before being named head coach for the 2024 season. While no stranger to softball, where he has both high school and collegiate experience, he was a baseball player for the Beavers. As a player and a coach, he believes in keeping things simple.

“We focus on practice and drills that develop and hone game skills,” said Rodiguez. “We practice hitting, pitching and fielding. We want the players to have skills and drills that prep them to play and then give them a plan to execute. We want to play inning to inning and execute accordingly.”

The top strength for the Beavers is pitching with senior Gabi Dawyduk is third in the NSIC with a 1.17 ERA and a 4-3 record for the season so far. Junior Reagan Floyd is 12th in the NSIC with a 2.48 ERA and a 3-2 record.

“We had good pitching last year (2023) as well,” said Rodriguez. “We needed to hone some hitting and fielding skills to support the pitching efforts.”

Senior Brooklyn Morrison is currently sixth in the NSIC with a .409 batting average and eight RBIs.

“I think, honestly, sky’s the limit for us,” said Morrison. “We have a lot of big expectations for each other and even for ourselves. So I think that’s a big thing, just really pushing each other and just making each other better every single day.”

MSU junior Abbey Kelley is 37th in the NSIC with a very respectable .347 average and seven RBI for the season so far.

“We felt like we had improved in the right areas, and had the team to be competitive,” said Rodriguez. “I would be lying though if I said we knew we would be undefeated in conference play at this point. We need to keep working on situational game planning and the players need to keep executing.”

With four players from Arizona, two from California and one from Nevada, the cold weather hasn’t been that much of an issue for recruiting.

“We have the bubble for inclement weather,” said Rodriguez. “And we have great good weather facilities as well. The girls report back to their friends and family on how they like the school, the facilities and the environment – and they basically recruit along with us.”

The rest of the team knows inclement weather with 11 players from northern states like Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Washington, South Dakota and North Dakota – Minot is like being at home. The Beavers also have five Canadians as well.

“Canada has a shortage of collegiate opportunities for softball players,” said Rodriguez. “Coach Odlum is from Canada, has coached there in addition to being a standout player for MSU. When the Canadian kids play, their families can make the trip for home games here quite comfortably.”

The Beavers will host Minnesota State University-Mankato (4-2, 24-8) in a doubleheader Saturday, March 29 at the MSU Bubble with the first game at 11 a.m.