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Aberdeen, S.D. – Tomorrow marks the opening day of the NSIC/US Bank Softball Tournament from Sioux Falls. Northern will open the first round of the double elimination tournament versus Wayne State and 12 p.m., Thursday.
 
Northern heads into the conference tournament with a 32-20 record overall and 19-10 mark in Northern Sun Conference play. The Wolves finished the regular season fourth in the NSIC standings with the best finish in program history. Eryn Yancy and Rachel Albright led the team offensively with .329 and .307 averages respectively. Yancy has tallied a team leading 53 hits, nine homeruns, 14 doubles, and 35 RBI. She is slugging .584 on the year. Kelsey Gale recorded a team leading 35 runs scored with 13 stolen bases. NSU has tallied single season records in wins (32), homeruns (31), and games played (52). Kami Smesmo leads the NSU pitching staff with a 2.69 ERA and 20-10 record. The senior was named to the NSIC All-Conference Second Team with 128 strikeouts in 200.1 innings pitched. Missy Elkins has tallied an 11-9 record with a 3.99 ERA in 138.2 innings pitched. The sophomore has 71 strikeouts on the year, and was named to the NSIC Gold Glove team. Kalie Maiden was the final All-NSIC honoree with a nod to the Gold Glove team as well.
 
About Wayne State
 
The Wildcats finished the regular season 33-19 overall and 18-12 in NSIC play, earning the fifth seed in the conference tournament. Wayne is coming off a 3-1 weekend versus Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State on the road. Lexie Loos leads the Wildcats with 90 hits and a .474 average on the year. Wayne State is hitting .320 this season with 261 runs scored. Kaiti Williams and Kelcie Bormann lead the team with 44 and 36 RBI respectively. Sam O'Brien tallied a team leading eight homeruns in 51 games played. Kelcie Bormann leads the WSC pitching staff with a 2.53 ERA and 18-8 record. Bormann has 188 strikeouts in 174.1 innings pitched. Casey Miller and Sara Scheffert combined for eight and seven wins respectively, and 169.2 innings pitched. Kelcie Bormann, Jordan King, and Lexie Loos were named to the NSIC All-Conference First Team, while Kaiti Williams was named to the second team. King also grabbed herself a Gold Glove nod.
 
In the Regular Season
 
The Wolves dropped a pair of NSIC match-ups with Wayne State earlier this season, 4-5 and 0-5 from Aberdeen. After going down early in game one the Wolves fought back to tie up the game in the fifth. Brittney Lash and Katelynn Dilts recorded RBI in the inning, scoring Kalie Maiden, Rachel Albright and Lash. Wayne answered back with the decisive run in the top of the seventh and the Wolves were unable to plate a run. Rachel Albright led the team going 3-4 with a run scored. Lexie Loos, Kaiti Williams, and Kelcie Borman recorded a multiple hit game for the Wildcats. Bormann held NSU to three hits in game two as the Wolves fell 0-5.