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

SOMERS, Wis. (Mar. 5, 2015)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside softball team returns to the diamond this weekend, heading to the Saint Cloud Dome in Minnesota for games against Minot State University and the University of Minnesota-Crookston.
 
The Rangers take on Minot State on Saturday at 6 p.m. before capping off the night with an 8 p.m. showdown with Minnesota-Crookston. UW-Parkside returns to the indoor diamond early Sunday with a 9 a.m. contest against Minot State before capping off the excursion with a 1 p.m. game against UM-Crookston.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (2-7) has yet to play a game outdoors after last weekend's tournament at the University of Southern Indiana was scuttled due to inclement weather. The Rangers last outing was at the Midwest Regional Tournament at the Rosemont Dome in suburban Chicago with the Rangers winning two of their five games played over the weekend.
 
UW-Parkside opened the event with a 10-2 loss to Grand Valley State University on Feb. 20 before netting the squad's first win at the expense of University of Findlay in the nightcap, downing the Oilers 6-2 as Morgan Dastych finished two-for-three at the dish while driving in three runs. UW-Parkside rolled Kentucky Wesleyan College 7-4 the next day before closing the tournament with losses to then 25th-ranked Winona State University (6-3) and then No. 15 Wayne State University (9-2).
 
Madison Manders leads the Rangers at the plate, hitting .360 on the young season while Megan Holderby sports a .333 average. Dastych has a team-high three doubles on the year while Kalli Gosser, Courtney Ellingson, and Emily Bell have all driven in four RBIs.
 
In the circle, Carly Dundee has made six starts, tossing two complete games and striking out 21. Ellingson has made six appearances, logging 14 punchouts in 20 2/3 innings of action while Amber Ramos sports a team-best 1.91 earned run average with 16 strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings of work.

This weekend's games will serve as one final tuneup before the Rangers begin Great Lakes Valley Conference action on March 14 in Kirksville, Missouri, against Truman State University.
 
About the Beavers: Minot State (7-2) heads into Saturday riding a four-game win streak after finishing with an unblemished record at the West Saint Paul Dome Tournament last week. The Beavers downed UM-Crookston (3-1) and Minnesota State University-Moorhead (9-1) last Wednesday before edging Bemidji State University 6-5 the following day and blanking UM-Crookston 6-0.
 
Four Beavers are hitting above .400 on the year, with Jordan Grant leading the way with a .485 average and four stolen bases. Leyna Downey is hitting .444 while Rachel Burdette and Melissa Bell own .429 and .419 averages, respectively. Ali Cygan paces the team with 13 RBIs while Bell has eight on the season.
 
Alyssa Cornejo has a team-best 1.58 earned run average with 20 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings of work while Mindy Lorimor has been a workhorse for MSU, tossing 37 1/3 innings with four complete games and 35 strikeouts under her belt.
 
About the Golden Eagles: Minnesota-Crookston (0-4) heads to Saint Cloud searching for its first win of 2015 after dropping all four games last week at the West Saint Paul Dome. The Golden Eagles stumbled 3-1 to Minot State to open the year on Feb. 25 before suffering an 11-2 setback to Bemidji State. UMC fell 9-6 to MSU-Moorhead before getting shutout 6-0 by Minot.
 
Victoria Bayliss is UMC's most prolific hitter, carrying a .375 average heading into the weekend while Allison Foley is hitting at a .333 clip.
 
Four Golden Eagles have toed the rubber this season with Bailey Braatz seeing the most action, tossing 10 innings and striking out seven.