CLEARWATER, Fla. - Facing its second ranked opponent of the season in No. 21 Minnesota, Wichita State will play four other teams over three days in the USF Spring Invitational beginning on Friday. 

SCOUTING UT-CHATTANOOGA
UT-Chattanooga had one of the hottest starts to the season, winning 13 of its first 14 games of the season. The Mocs are comfortable with the Clearwater atmosphere, having played five games at the USF Invitational last week and claimed three victories. Aly Walker leads the Mocs offensively, hitting .394 with 13 RBIs to start the season. The Mocs have five players hitting .318 or better, including Halie Willamson (.380, 19 H). Amanda Beltran adds power at the plate, hitting .349 and leading the team in home runs (six) and RBIs (22). UT-Chattanooga also has production in the circle, with their pitchers having no worse than a 2.68 earned run average. Celie Hudson has obtained 61 strikeouts this season and has only allowed 42 hits in 60 innings pitched. Mariah Ramierez holds an undefeated record at 7-0 in addition to striking out 42 batters.

LAST MEETING
After losing the 2008 season opener to UT-Chattanooga, Wichita State got its revenge the following day. Behind Ashly Bright's 11 strikeouts, the Shockers held the Mocs at bay and came up with a 4-2 victory in Chattanooga, Tenn.    

SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA STATE
North Dakota State is 11-11 on the year, but five of its losses came to the hands of ranked teams. After losing three straight games at the FAU/FIU Invitational, the Bison came up with a 7-0 win over Stony Brook. Katie Shoultz leads the Bison with a .404 batting average and Maydson Camach is an impactful player offensively, hitting .321 and leading the team with 25 hits. Stephanie Soria adds depth to the batting order, coming up with .21 on .313 hhitting while driving in nine RBIs. KK Leddy is the Bison's pitching ace, having a 7-6 record with a 3.10 ERA and striking out 80 batters this season.

LAST MEETING
Wichita State looks to take the advantage on the series lead on Friday, with NDSU tying the record at 1-1. The Shockers last faced the Bison in 2012, where NDSU came up with a run-rule victory (10-2) in Tempe, Ariz. 

SCOUTING TOWSON
Towson is coming off a win over George Washington and heads back on the road to face five more opponents in Clearwater following a 9-6 record. ECU is the only opponent that the Shockers and Towson have shared so far, where the Pirates defeated the Lady Tigers 14-5. Ju Smith Harrington leads the Lady Tigers with a .393 batting average, in addition to leading the team in doubles and adding three home runs with 13 RBIs. Towson has five batters hitting .294 or better, including Kendall Arcia (.341). Arcia leads the teams in hits (15), home runs (4), and RBIs (15). Smith-Harrington also is a force in the circle, holding a 4-0 record and coming up with 32 strikeouts in the process. Sara Johnson is the Lady Tigers' ace, holding an ERA of 4.32 and leading the team with 36 strikeouts while holding opponents to hitting .283.

LAST MEETING
This will be the first meeting between Wichita State and Towson. 

SCOUTING #21 MINNESOTA
As the no. 21 team in the nation, Minnesota heads to Clearwater with a 15-7 record and having won five of its last six games. The Golden Gophers are coming off two wins over #11 Texas in Austin and #22 James Madison on a neutral site. Makenna Partain leads the Golden Gophers with 22 runs scored, 28 hits and seven doubles on .394 hitting. Hope Brandner leads the team in RBIs with 26 and has added a .343 offensive mark. Natalie DenHartog adds strength to the offensive depth, leading Minnesota with seven home runs while having a slugging percentage of .843. Having a combined ERA of 1.79, Minnesota's pitchers give the opposition fits. Amber Fisher is the Golden Gophers' ace, holding a record of 8-5 and already hitting the century mark for strikeouts with 105 while holding an ERA of 1.52. Sydney Smith also adds depth to the pitcher's circle with a 2.29 ERA and adding 30 strikeouts.

LAST MEETING
This will be the first meeting in 11 years between Minnesota and Wichita State, but the Golden Gophers won the last battle in Wichita. Even though Minnesota only managed one hit, pinch-runnner Sila Fernandez scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth to give Minnesota the lead and the win at the Shocker Invitational in 2007.

DON'T COUNT US OUT
When the Shockers have been down to their last out, the party has just gotten started for them at the plate. Wichita State has scored 48 runs with two outs, hitting 10 out of 20 of its home runs during that stretch.

GETTING 'EM AROUND
Senior Laurie Derrico needs four home runs to move into first place in the Shocker record books. Currently in second with 36, if Derrico reaches 40 she will overtake Cacy Williams who played at Wichita State from 2014-16. Derrico has reached double figures in home runs in the previous two seasons.

LONG TIME NO HITS
For the first time since 2014, Wichita State came up with its first no-hitter. On Sunday against Nebraska, Caitlin Bingham started the game while Erin McDonald pitched seven innings and didn't allow a hit to claim the first no-hitter since Katie Malone on April 16, 2014 in a 12-0 victory over Missouri State. Sunday was the first time a no-hitter took place in a seven inning game since 2006, when Margo Pruis shutdown Northern Colorado and struck out 13 batters in a 6-0 victory. The no-hitter also marked the first time since May 9, 2003 (Lindsay Craig and Lindsey Lang vs. Illinois State in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament) where two Shocker pitchers combined to no-hit the opponent.

LAYING DOWN THE BUNTS
In addition to leading Wichita State in hits, Wylie Glover has managed to get on first base off the bunt. Glover is 8-for-11 when bunting with one sacrifice bunt, hitting .727 during that stretch.