THIS WEEK: Minot State returns to the field after a week off to host the Minot State Invite. MSU is set to take on Minnesota Crookston and Black Hills State Thursday and BHSU and MSU Moorhead Friday (10 a.m. & 12 p.m. both days).

RECORDS: Minot State comes into the tournament with a 1-4 record overall. UMC is 1-3 after opening its season at the Presentation College Indoor tournament last week. BHSU fell four times at St. Cloud State to open the year and is 0-4 overall. MSUM will begin its season with the four games at the MSU Invite.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Bill Triplett is in his 10th season as the head coach at Minot State. The former CaptainU National Coach of the Year has guided Minot State to both the NAIA National Tournament and the NCAA Division II National Tournament. He has a 274-154 overall record. UMC's head coach is Don Stopa who is 5-47 overall in three seasons with the Golden Eagles. Lane Leedy is in her third season with BHSU and is 18-74 overall. Kelsey Fehl is in her seventh season with MSUM and is 77-175 overall.

FOLLOW THE BEAVERS: MSU provides live video – with Leif Bakken serving as the play-by-play announcer – and live stats at msubeavers.com. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.

RANKINGS: None of the four teams were ranked in the latest NFCA Division II Top 25 poll. MSU has a significant tie to the top 25, however, playing then No. 2 ranked Humboldt State at the Desert Stinger two weeks ago. Humboldt, which won 6-1 in a game MSU led in the fourth, is this week's No. 1 ranked team.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State went 1-4 at the MSU Billings Desert Stinger in Las Vegas to open the season two weeks ago. The Beavers defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills in the opener 11-3. MSU had two one-run losses and played well but lost to No. 2 ranked Humboldt State. UMC finished off a four-game tournament with a win over Dakota Wesleyan 4-3, but were outscored 30-4 in losses to Valley City State, Northern State and the University of Jamestown. BHSU fell four times to St. Cloud State to pen the year, with one close game. The Yellow Jackets fell 7-6 in the first game Saturday, but were outscored 17-2 in the three other losses. This is the season opener for MSUM.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: The Beavers have winning records against all three teams in the Minot State Invite with UMC and BHSU dating back to the school's NAIA days. MSU leads Minnesota Crookston 15-1 overall and 13-1 since joining the NSIC. MSU has a big 21-3 lead on BHSU with all but one of those wins coming at the NAIA level and is 6-2 overall against MSUM.

LAST TIME OUT: Minot State took three of four games against UMC last season winning a pair of nonconference games in St. Cloud and splitting the two NSIC games. The Crookston win, 3-2, in game 1 of the double header halted a 14-game winning streak for MSU in the series. The series with BHSU goes back to 2015's season opener where Minot State routed the Yellow Jackets 16-2 at the Desert Stinger. MSU dropped a pair of NSIC games in Moorhead, Minn., last year to end the Beavers six-game winning streak over the Dragons.

NOTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Minnesota Crookston steadily increased its batting average throughout its four games to open the season, collecting a season-high eight hits against Dakota Wesleyan in a 4-3 win… Bailey Braatz pitched twice, including one complete game, to go to 1-1 on the season with a solid 3.07 ERA… Maggie Morales finished with three hits – all doubles – in three games played to lead the team with a .428 batting average.

NOTING THE YELLOW JACKETS: Black Hills State batted a decent .267 in four games against St. Cloud State, but the Yellow Jackets gave up .350 batting and 24 runs in four losses… Kindall Bethke had a solid week, collecting six hits to bat an even .500… Katelyn Odle, Alex Wiley and Lauren Lesniak all finished with two RBIs.

NOTING THE DRAGONS: MSU Moorhead batted just .233 over 46 games in 2016 compared to .294 for its opponents… Megan Asham batted .250 in limited action last season as the top returning bat for the Dragons… Carly Williamson played in all 46 games and collected 37 hits including five doubles… Shortstop Taylor Roddie finished with 10 RBIs and 30 hits on the season.

DYNAMIC DEBUT: Tori Zimmermann made an instant impact for the Beavers, hitting .353 with two home runs and five RBIs at the Desert Stinger. The transfer batted .765 with 13 total bases and earned three walks. She also scored five runs. Her first at-bat for the Beavers resulted in a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning against Cal State Dominguez Hills.

AT A GIRL, SLUGGER: Junior Ashley Hill finished with a .833 slugging percentage over her first four games to pace the Beavers. She leads MSU in multiple categories including at bats (18), average (.444), RBIs (6) and total bases (15). She is tied for the team lead in home runs with two.

BY THE NUMBERS

.919: Fielding percentage over the first five games for Minot State.

3.96: ERA for MSU starting pitcher Jenn Spencer who gave up 10 earned runs in 17.2 innings pitched a the Desert Stinger. She went 1-2 overall.

3.97: ERA for MSU starter Clarissa Ramirez, who gave up seven earned runs in 12.1 innings pitched. She went 0-2 at the tournament.