The University of Minnesota Duluth will honor Eden Prairie's Mandy Matula on Saturday by officially retiring the 24-year-old's softball jersey, No. 14.
Matula disappeared in May 2013. Her body was found last Oct. 26 in a shallow grave near St. Cloud. Authorities say her ex-boyfriend shot her in the head before killing himself.
Now, nearly a year after she was found, her former softball teammates are honoring her at halftime of UMD's football game at 1 p.m. Saturday. Money raised from a fund set up in Matula's name has gone toward a new sound system, new fencing, a shelter and portable ball stop.
Matula's name and her No. 14 will also be in center field for all softball home games, where she was the team's pitcher and an outfielder before graduating in 2011. Every player on the team wears her No. 14 on their backs to honor her.
A softball fundraiser will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday at 601 W. Superior St., Duluth. For more details on Saturday's halftime ceremony, go to umdbulldogs.com/honoringmandy or to donate to the Matula fund, go to giving.umn.edu/giveto/matula.
KELLY SMITH
