The Minnesota Morris softball team astarts a long home stretch Apr. 18, taking on three conference teams with one non-conference opponent mixed in. Morris will be hosting Presentation on Apr. 18, North Central on Apr. 19, Northland on Apr. 21 and St. Scholastica on Apr. 22.

For the Record: Morris 7-13 (6-3), Presentation 7-18 (3-6), North Central, Northland 14-14 (7-4), St. Scholastica 17-8, (9-1).

Storyline: Back in the UMAC Tournament hunt after winning five of their past six conference games.

Last time out: Morris opened up the offense in a 9-0 and a 12-0 win over Crown.

Previous meetings: Defeated Presentation twice this season, 8-0 and 8-3. Last season beat North Central last 7-4 and 9-8, swept Northland 4-2 and 15-7 and split against St. Scholastica 1-0 and 2-8.

About the Cougars: Second in the UMAC at 6-3 ... Molly Olson is eighth in the UMAC in batting average at .408 … Jordan Iverson is tied for second in homeruns with four … Mariah Essig is third in strikeouts with 54 … Olson is on an 11-game hitting streak … three of six conference wins have come in just five innings … still in search of first home win … erupted for 21 runs and 22 hits against Crown last weekend, each best for a doubleheader this season … Mariah Essig went 3-0 last week, pitching complete games in all three of her starts, improving to 4-5 on the year … Essig is averaging six strikeouts every seven innings.
    
About the PC Saints: Seventh in the UMAC at 3-6 … Michelle Stratton is ninth in the UMAC in batting average at .405… Hannah Phillips leads the UMAC with runs scored with 29, and sacrifice bunts with five … opened season with eight straight losses … opened UMAC season 0-3, before taking three-of-four form Bethany Lutheran and Crown … most recently was swept by Northwestern … have allowed eight or more runs 17 times.

About the Rams: Opened season with six losses before winning three straight, including 17-2 over Martin Luther and 10-0 over Presentation … also owns a doubleheader sweep over Bethany Lutheran … most recently took a doubleheader with Crown by a combined score of 20-1.

About the LumberJills: Third in the UMAC at 7-4 … three of the top six hitters in the conference are from Northland (Ristau, Garing, Loy) … Rebecca Ristau leads the UMAC in walks at 13… Kylie Garing recently became the all-time hits leader at Northland, with 154 in her career … 14 total wins on the season are second most in the UMAC.

About the CSS Saints: First in the UMAC at 9-1 … lone UMAC loss came as a 4-1 decision to Northwestern … defending UMAC regular season and tournament champion, and 2012 preseason favorite … Bonnie Kowalczyk – the reigning UMAC Player of the Year – leads the UMAC in batting average at .468, and in slugging percentage at .839 … Jordan Spiering leads the UMAC in era at 2.97 … winners of six straight … 11 regular players are batting above .300, with two above .400 … four players have multiple homeruns … Saints have only played three true road games, going 2-1 … have recorded double-digit hits in 11 games and double digit runs in seven.