Dickinson St. Poised And Ready For The NAIA Softball Tournament.
How about the Blue Hawks softball team? The ladies from Dickinson State are seeded 4th and will be in the same company as No. 1 seed Oklahoma City, No. 2 seed Midland (Neb.), and No. 3 seed Ottawa (Kan.). Welcome to the opening round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national tournament May 17-19 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, The Hawks got the good news from The NAIA national office yesterday (Tuesday) as they join 39 other teams.
The road to the magic land was not a cakewalk - They finished the regular season with a record of 30 and 13 overall - which put them at a number 3 seed heading into the North Star Conference Tournament - some good old fashioned grit, hustle, and magic needed to happen - and it did! According to dsubluehawks, After defeating No. 6 seed Viterbo University (4-1) and No. 2 seed Bellevue University (1-0) during the first two games of the tournament, the Blue Hawks had to win back-to-back games against No. 1 seed Valley City State University (VCSU) to claim the NSAA trophy and earn an automatic spot into the national tournament – and that's exactly what they did.
Talking with KFYRTV Dickinson State Head Coach Kristen Fleury is excited about her Hawks “We play defense, and we have a tremendous weekend from our number one pitcher Jaya Allen. She pitched every single inning for us and she was a different kid this weekend for us. We just got enough runs when we needed to and that was ultimately how it worked out for us.”
The champions from each of the 10 opening round tournaments will advance to the 40th annual NAIA Softball World Series in Columbus, Georgia, May 27 – June 2.
No matter what the outcome turns out, you've made us proud Dickinson State Lady Blue Hawks!
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