FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 16, 2015)-- It's a busy week for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside softball squad, opening up its 2015 slate with nine games over a six-day stretch played in three different indoor venues scattered across the Upper Midwest.
 
The Rangers open the lid on the 2015 campaign on Tuesday with a doubleheader against Winona State University at 3 p.m. inside the Rochester Dome in Rochester, Minnesota. UW-Parkside travels to West Saint Paul, Minnesota the following day for an 11 a.m. twinbill against the University of Minnesota-Duluth before heading south on Friday for the first of three days at the Rosemont Dome Tournament in suburban Chicago. The Rangers open the Rosemont Tournament with games against Grand Valley State University and University of Findlay on Friday and resume the tournament on Saturday with contests against Kentucky Wesley College and Winona State. UW-Parkside concludes the hectic week on Sunday with a single game against Wayne State University.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside begins a new era in 2015 with Scott Wachholz taking the reins as head coach, replacing Laura Fillipp who collected 278 wins over the previous 13 seasons. Wachholz joins the Parkside staff after a successful stint as head coach at Williston State College in North Dakota where he led the Tetons to a 30-17 overall record in 2014, winning the NJCAA Region XIII Championship.
 
The Rangers finished the 2014 season with an 8-30 overall mark, including a 7-23 record in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. UW-Parkside boasts a young team this year with eight sophomores and seven freshman with just two juniors and one senior.
 
Kalli Gosser is the squad's leading returner at the plate, hitting .311 with 16 RBIs and nine extra base hits. The sophomore infielder additionally led the team defensively last season with 250 putouts. Samantha Magruder returns sporting a .272 batting average with 15 RBIs while Alexis Simone had 11 RBIs and four home runs during the 2014 campaign.
 
In the circle, the Rangers return Carly Dundee who as a freshman made 21 appearances and tossed nine complete games. The righthander tossed one shutout while logging 106 1/3 innings of action, collecting 43 strikeouts and sporting a 4.08 earned run average. Mallory Ivers is the only other returning pitcher from a year ago, making seven appearances and tossing 13 1/3 innings with five strikeouts.
 
About the Warriors: 22nd-ranked Winona State opens the 2015 season against the Rangers after finishing last year with a 48-9 overall record. The Warriors won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament last season for the fifth time in program history, downing Augustana College 3-1 for the title. The Vikings exacted revenge on WSU in the NCAA Tournament, eliminating the Warriors from the regional by sending them a pair of losses.
 
Winona State was picked to win the NSIC this season according to the Coaches' preseason poll, collecting five first place votes and receiving four more total points than preseason No. 2 picks Augustana College and Minnesota State University.
 
About the Bulldogs: Minnesota-Duluth (3-2) already as five games under its belt, playing games at the UAM Eight-State Classic in Bentonville, Arkansas. The Bulldogs fell 4-3 in the opener to host University of Arkansas-Monticello before claiming wins over Fort Hays State University (2-0), University of Nebraska-Kearney (13-1) and Missouri Western State University (7-5). UMD's trip ended on a sour note, getting nipped 7-5 by Ouachita Baptist University on Feb. 14.
 
UMD has been picked to finish fifth in the NSIC standings according to the league's annual coaches' poll.
 
Ashley Schilling is hitting .538 to pace the Bulldogs at the plate while Becky Smith is hitting at a .500 clip with 10 RBIs. In the circle, Sam Hartmann owns a 2-0 record, striking out 10 on the young season with an earned run average of 3.95.
 
About the Lakers: Grand Valley State opens its season on Friday against the Rangers after compiling a 30-14 record during the 2014 campaign. The Lakers posted a 16-6 record in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament before getting bounced by the University of Indianapolis.
 
The Lakers return 11 letterwinners from last season's NCAA Tournament squad and was slotted to place third in the GLIAC according to the annual coaches' poll.
 
About the Oilers: Findlay's first game of 2015 comes against Parkside on Friday after finishing last season with a 22-19 overall record, including a 14-14 record in GLIAC competition.
 
The Oilers were slotted to finish ninth in the annual GLIAC preseason poll, returning leading hitter Morgan Turner who hit .395 last season with 24 RBIs. In the circle, Nicole Motuza and Bonnie Zappitelli return after pitching 47 and 49 innings last season, respectively. Motuza made 15 appearances, including eight starts, fanning 21 batters with a 3.72 earned run average while Zppitelli had 25 punchouts while compiling a record of 4-2.
 
About the Panthers: Former GLVC rival Kentucky Wesleyan (4-2) already has six games under its belt heading into the Rosemont Tournament after playing at the Charger Chillout in Huntsville, Alabama the first weekend of February.
 
The Panthers won four of its six games at the event, including wins over former rivals Maryville University (2-0) and Saint Joseph's College (10-3). KWC suffered a 4-1 setback to Delta State University while falling 3-1 to fifth-ranked Wayne State University.
 
Kaci Ovelgoener and Mackenzie Weedman lead the Wesleyan offense, both hitting .450 on the season. Overlgoener has a team-best three extra base hits while Weedman has racked up six RBIs on the yound season.
 
In the circle, Casey Smith has made four appearances, tossing 20 innings and sporting a 1.40 earned run average with a 3-0 record. Josslyn Ress has made two appearances and sports a 2.33 ERA with a team-high 13 strikeouts in 18 innings of work.

About the Warriors: Wayne State (3-3), a College World Series participant last season and preseason GLIAC favorite, opened the 2015 campaign at the Charger Chillout, splitting its six games. The Warriors, the 2014 GLIAC Tournament Champions, claimed wins over Saint Joseph's (2-0), Kentucky Wesleyan (3-1) and No. 21 University of Indianapolis (4-2) but suffered setbacks to Trevecca Nazarene University (0-1 in 8 innings), Bellarmine University (1-2) and University of North Alabama (0-9).

Lyndsay Butler is WSU's leading hitter, owning a .474 batting average with three triples and four RBIs. In the circle, Briana Lee owns a team-best 0.58 earned run average with 10 strikeouts in 12 innings of action while Butler owns a 0.60 ERA with three complete games and 29 strikeouts.