Blue Hawks picked to finish 3rd in NSAA Preseason Poll

BISMARCK, N.D. – Dickinson State has been selected to finish third in the seven-team North Star Athletic Association by the league coaches, the NSAA annouced Wednesday.

DSU is coming off a 25-25 (17-9 NSAA) season last year that saw them finish in third place before falling to Bellevue in the loser's bracket final in the 2023 Conference Tournament.

Bellevue (Neb.) is the head coaches’ preseason favorite to repeat the North Star Athletic Association softball regular-season title. BU has won the previous two NSAA softball regular-season titles with a combined 50-4 conference record.

Valley City State (N.D.), who defeated Bellevue in the NSAA postseason tournament’s championship game for the second straight season last season, finished second with 37 points.  The Vikings advanced to the NAIA Softball National Tournament Opening Round and finished with an overall record of 28-23 (18-7 NSAA conference record).

Dakota State (S.D.) placed fourth after collecting 26 points, followed by Viterbo (Wis.) fifth with 19 points and Mayville State (N.D.) sixth with 15 points.  Waldorf (Iowa) was seventh with 10 points.

Points were awarded on a 7-1 basis in the conference coaches’ preseason poll.

The North Star conference softball season gets underway on the weekend of March 16-17 (VCSU at BU; MSU at DaSU, DiSU at VU; WU waits for the conference opener until March 23-24 versus VCSU).  All seven members are scheduled to play a total of 24 conference contests in the spring.

The NSAA Softball conference tournament returns to Bravera Field in Dickinson, N.D. on May 3-6.  There is one automatic bid to the NAIA Softball National Tournament Opening round on May 13-16.  The winner of the postseason conference tournament will earn an automatic bid to the national tournament.

The NAIA Softball World Series takes place in Columbus, Ga. on May 23-29 at South Commons Complex.

Below is the complete 2024 NSAA Softball Coaches’ Preseason Poll: