Photo Courtesy of Minnesota State Softball

The Minnesota State Mavericks softball team is out to a 7-3 start to the year and freshman Amber Kral is a big reason why.

Kral, a stand out on the diamond for five seasons at Mid-Prairie High School, is hitting .333 on the young season with 10 hits, eight runs scored and seven driven in. She has supplied the power in the Mavericks lineup with two doubles, two triples and two home runs to her credit. Minnesota State has participated in two tournaments so far this year. They opened the season with a 4-0 run at the Kelly Laas Memorial Invite in St. Cloud. The Mavericks scored wins over Concordia-St. Paul 9-0, Viterbo 12-0, Nebraska-Kearney 2-0 and Wisconsin-Parkside 12-3. On the weekend Kral was six for 11 with a pair of homers, a triple, double and three singles.

In their most recent action, Minnesota State went 3-3 at the University of Arkansas-Monticello tournament with wins over Harding 1-0, Central Missouri 2-1 and Arkansas Tech 8-0. The Mavericks fell to Missouri Western State 3-2, Arkansas-Monticello 3-1 and Pittsburg State 5-2.