BEMIDJI, Minn. – Bemidji State University Softball hosts the University of Minnesota Crookston at 10 a.m. and noon Wednesday for the Beavers' 2025 season Home Opener at Chet Anderson Stadium.
 
The Beavers, currently sitting in 13^th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, are 15-23 overall with a 2-12 record in conference play. The Golden Eagles are just one spot above the Beavers with a 2-10 record in the NSIC and 14-25 overall. The Beavers have struggled to find the win column recently with a five-game losing streak. UMC was on a nine-game losing streak before taking down Winona State University, 2-1, last Sunday. 
 
Overall, the Beavers hold the all-time series advantage against the Golden Eagles, going 39-12. BSU has won four of the last five meetings with the most recent matchup ending in a 6-5 victory for UMC. With this being the Beavers' first real home game of the season after site reversals due to weather, they enter Wednesday with an all-time home record of 10-7 against the Golden Eagles. 
 
Bemidji State's Aimee Christenson leads the team at the plate with a .365 batting average in 96 at bats. She has grabbed 35 hits, a double and a triple, plus 16 runs and 12 runners batted in. Mariah Stevenson follows closely behind after tallying a three-run home run last weekend against Minnesota State University, Mankato. Stevenson holds a .323 batting average in 124 at bats. In the field, Avery Amidon leads the Beavers, not including pitchers and catchers, with a .992 fielding percentage with the most putouts on the team at 117, plus two assists and just one error. 
 
Kennedy Joachim and Payton Prissel lead the Beavers' pitching staff with a combined 163.1 innings pitched. Joachim holds a 2.70 ERA and is 9-8 in her freshman campaign with 18 appearances and 16 starts. She has pitched a single shutout and holds opposing batters to a .254 batting average. Prissel has grabbed a 4.47 ERA with a 3-5 record in 16 appearances and a .306 opposing batting average. 
 
UMC comes into the week after splitting with the now No. 2 team in the conference Winona State. The Golden Eagles were shutout in the first game of the matchup, 11-0, but came back and rallied for a 2-1 victory in game two. Prior to this, the last time the Golden Eagles found the win column was in game two on Mar. 21 against Southwest Minnesota State University, 6-5, to start off conference play. 
 
Freshman pitcher Hannah Trzinski is the only Golden Eagle hitting above .300 with a .344 batting average. She has appeared in 36 games, starting in 32, and grabbed 33 hits in 96 at bats with four doubles. Delaney Penner leads the Golden Eagles with a 2.63 ERA, the only UMC pitcher meeting the minimum requirement of one inning pitched per game. She holds a 5-4 record with 10 starts and holds opposing batters to a .246 batting average. 
 
Following Wednesday's double header, Bemidji State travels to Wayne, Neb. Saturday and Sioux Falls, S.D. Sunday to take on Wayne State College and Augustana University. Games will be available on the NSIC Network for streaming. 
 
For more information on the Bemidji State Softball program, tickets or schedules, visit BSUBeavers.com, follow the Beavers on X (@BSUBeaversSB), like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers) and like them on Instagram (@BSUBeaversSB).
 
Located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, Bemidji State University sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men's and women's hockey membership in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).