Game Time... The Northwestern College softball team begins spring break play in Florida this afternoon as they play Webber International in a doubleheader. First game of the double dip is at 1:00 pm in Babson Park, Fla. In total, Coach Mason's squad will play eight games over the course of the week with games against Winona State, Assumption and Kings College.
Scouting Report... Webber International-The Warriors and Head Coach Julie Mulder are 4-8 overall so far this season, 2-4 in the Florida Sun Conference. They began the season with a 0-6 record but are 4-2 in their last six games, including a doubleheader conference sweep of Northwood (Fla.), 8-1 and 5-0. The Warriors are led by a veteran pitching staff that returns their top four pitchers from a 2007 squad that finished with a 25-17 overall record. Senior Kaysha Hilliard led the staff with a perfect 5-0 record and a minuscule 0.69 ERA. She recorded 30 strikeouts and just four walks in 40 1/3 innings pitched. Cassie Pederson returns after leading last year's team with nine wins and sported a 3.19 ERA. Nichol Buckland went 6-11 last season and Rachel Kidd, a sophomore, went 5-0 in 2007. Offensively, the Warriors return four of their top hitters, including sophomore infielder Stephanie Ryan who batted .375 in limited action last season. Liz Wallace, a senior first baseman, hit .319 with three home runs and 16 RBIs. Senior infielders Amanda McIntyre and Sara Harwood also return for Coach Mulder's squad. McIntyre hit .272 last season while Harwood batted .267 with a team-best four home runs and 31 RBIs.
Kings College, a NCAA D-III school from Wilkes-Barre, Penn., finished the 2007 season with a 34-9 overall record and qualified for their eighth straight NCAA D-III national tournament. Head Coach Lisa Gigliello, in her 15th season with the Lady Monarchs, and her squad finished 13-1 in the MAC Freedom Conference in 2007. They are 2-0 in 2008 with wins over Point Park and Carlow University. The King's pitching staff sported a 1.99 ERA last year and return their top two hurlers from that staff. Lindsay Hoerner went 12-2 with a 1.97 ERA while Kelsey Shreaves went 14-5 with a 1.97 ERA. Offensively, junior infielder Abbey Knoblauch led last year's squad with a .414 batting average and scored 33 runs with 25 RBIs. Becky Loring, a junior first baseman, hit .398 last year with three home runs and a team-best 40 RBIs. Senior outfielder Leanne Harvey anchors the outfield and hit .371 and was second on the team with 39 RBIs. She led the team with 12 stolen bases.
Winona State (Minn.) finished the 2007 season with a 43-21 overall record, 16-2 in the Northern Sun Conference (NCAA D-II). Head Coach Greg Jones, in his eighth season with the Warriors, has led his team to five 40-win seasons during his tenure and is the all-time winningest coach in the program's history. They are 2-2 so far in 2008. The Warrior pitching staff will be led by senior Kristen Fossell and junior Chelsey Ewing. Fossell posted a 17-6 record with a team-best 2.23 ERA. She struck out 143 batters in 150 2/3 innings pitched. Ewing led staff with 19 wins last season and posted a 2.63 ERA. Offensively, Winona State hit .291 last year as a team and returns four of their six hitters. Junior Amanda Wilhelm leads the list of returners with a .348 average and belted seven home runs and 36 RBIs. Senior outfielder Chelsea Rosenow batted .339 with four home runs and 33 RBIs. He also led the team with 10 stolen bases. Terra Halron (.311) and Laura Wright (.280) also return to the Warrior lineup.
Assumption College (Mass.) finished the 2007 season with a 10-34 overall record and 5-21 in the NE-10 Conference. Head Coach Ralph DeLucia's squad is 0-2 so far this season. The pitching staff will be led by senior left-hander Lauren Symonick who led the team with a 2.73 ERA and went 2-11 on the mound. Sophomores Mindy Padula and Megan Orbon also saw time on the mound last season combining for an 0-2 record in nine appearances. Offensively, four of the top five hitters return for Assumption. Amanda Monge, senior infielder, batted .326 with nine RBIs in 2007. Sophomores Meghan DiVitto and Colleen Conroy batted .300 and .292 respectively. Junior second baseman Melissa Bowman batted .286 and recorded a fielding percentage of .95.
Red Raider Notes... The Red Raider softball team went a perfect 4-0 in early February at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. They defeated Mount Mercy (6-0), Dakota State (10-0 in five innings), 9-0 (five innings) over Iowa Wesleyan and 4-2 over Dakota State.
Lexy Determan won three games on the mound for Coach Mason's squad. The freshman pitched a five-inning no-hitter in the Red Raiders 9-0 win over Iowa Wesleyan, striking out 11 and walking just one. For the weekend, Determan pitched 14 innings and gave up just five hits, one earned run and struck out 24 batters. Gabrielle Burrola earned the other win for the Red Raiders as she pitched three innings of one-hit ball in her team's 10-0 win over Dakota State on Friday night. She also picked up her first save of the season as she pitched the final three innings in NWC's 4-2 win over the Trojans.
Offensively, Northwestern batted .376 for the weekend, led by Rachel Harris who belted six hits in eight at-bats (.750). The freshman scored seven runs, drove in three runs and walked seven times. Lizz Swanson batted .500 (5/10) with four RBIs while Michelle Van Duyn and Stacey Godfrey recorded four hits each.
Next up... After the spring break trip, the Red Raiders will play a pair of doubleheaders on March 14-15 when they open conference play on Friday night (Hastings) followed by a twinbill against St. Mary's.
2008 media guide
