Game Time... Northwestern College hosts Briar Cliff this evening in a key GPAC softball doubleheader beginning at 5:00 pm. The Red Raiders stand in fifth place in the league at 10-6 and trail Midland Lutheran and Briar Cliff by two and three games, respectively, in the win column with eight games left to play. Northwestern is 20-14 overall while the Chargers are 17-14 overall, 13-6 in the league. Both games this evening can be heard via the Red Raider web-cast.
Scouting Report... The Chargers come in with a 17-14 overall mark, 13-6 and in third place in the league standings. They have won their last four GPAC games as they swept both Dordt and Doane in a pair of doubleheaders. Head Coach Heather Hupke, in her 10th season with BCU, and her squad lost to Bellevue yesterday, 2-0 and 5-2, in a non-conference double dip. Briar Cliff finished 21-21 in 2007 and were 11-13 in the GPAC.
Briar Cliff ranks seventh in the league with a team batting average of .279. They average 3.8 runs per game and have hit five home runs this season. The Charger defense is ninth in the league with a .926 fielding percentage with 68 errors this season. The BCU pitching staff is giving up 3.2 runs per game and sports a 2.62 ERA, fourth best in the GPAC.
The Chargers return five all-conference players from last season, led by sophomore pitcher Camille Cruz who earned honorable mention all-GPAC honors in 2007. She is fourth in the league with a 1.96 ERA and carries an 11-7 record into tonight's games. Cruz is second in both innings pitched (128 1/3) and strikeouts (147) and opponents are batting .208 against the sophomore. Freshman Lydia Schafer is 4-6 this season with a 4.53 ERA while Tarah Colt is 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA in seven appearances. Offensively, BCU is led by freshman Tana Colt who is batting .423 and a team-best 20 runs scored. She also leads the team with eight stolen bases. Junior first baseman Amanda Arens ranks second on the team with a .356 average and is tied for the team lead with two home runs. Sophomore Kashe Manley is batting .344 while Emily Dvorak, a 2007 honorable mention all-GPAC performer, is batting .300 with 10 doubles and is second on the team with 14 RBIs. Tarah Colt, also an honorable mention pick in 2007, leads the team with 15 RBIs and is batting .274 this season.
Last Time Out... Briar Cliff lost a non-conference doubleheader against Bellevue last night, 2-0 and 5-2. No stats available at this time but the losses snapped a four-game BCU win streak. Last season, Northwestern swept the Chargers in a pair of low-scoring games, 1-0 and 4-2.
Northwestern swept past Dakota Wesleyan last time out (April 21) 3-2 and 9-0 (5 innings) in a GPAC doubleheader played in Mitchell, S.D. The Red Raiders trailed 2-0 in game one before they took the lead for good with three runs in the top of the fifth inning. Rachel Harris led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a Lara Vonnahmen one-out single. With two out, Michelle Van Duyn singled which scored Harris and moved Vonnahmen to third. After Van Duyn stole second, Amy Larson smacked a two-run single which gave NWC the lead, 3-2. Lexy Determan shut the door on any Tiger rally as she did not allow a hit in the final three innings and struck out five of the final nine DWU batters. Determan gave up six hits, two runs and struck out eight as she improved to 14-7 this season. Van Duyn, Harris and Vonnahmen all had two hits for NWC in game one.
Gavi Burrola pitched a complete game two hit shutout in the Red Raiders 9-0, five-inning game two win. The junior struck out two and did not walk a batter as she improved to 6-7 this season. Coach Mason's squad scored three runs in the first, three more in the third inning to jump out to a 6-0 lead. They closed out the scoring with two runs in the fourth and one more in the fifth. Northwestern totaled nine hits, led by Lizz Swanson who went 2-4 with two runs and one RBI. She led off the fifth inning with her 10th home run of the season. Rachel Harris went 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
Red Raider Notes... Northwestern has won four straight games and is currently 20-14 overall, 10-6 and in fifth place in the league standings with eight games left. Head Coach Melanie Mason is in her seventh year as Head Coach and has led NWC to a 203-109 record coming into this year. Last year, the Red Raiders finished 32-19 overall and tied for second place in the conference with an 18-6 mark.
The Red Raiders average 4.4 runs per game and are ninth in the GPAC with a .271 batting average. As a team, they have belted 13 home runs and are 42-for-49 in stolen bases. Defensively, they are fourth in fielding percentage (.958) and have committed 39 errors this season. The pitching staff is third in the league with a 2.50 ERA and are giving up 2.8 runs per game. Opponents are hitting .225 against the NWC staff this season.
Coach Mason's squad is led at the plate by senior Lizz Swanson who is fifth in the league with a .404 average. Swanson leads the GPAC with 10 home runs and is second in RBIs with 39. She is tied with Michelle Van Duyn for the team lead with 24 runs scored. Van Duyn, a senior outfielder, is second on the team with a .343 average and leads the team with 11 stolen bases. Sara Curry is batting .312 with three doubles and three triples. Freshmen Rachel Harris and Stacey Godfrey are batting .297 and .290, respectively. The pitching staff is led by freshmen Lexy Determan who ranks third in the league with a 1.73 ERA to go with a 14-7 record. Determan earned both GPAC and regional Pitcher-of-the-Week honors last week after she sported a 3-1 record with three shutouts. She leads the GPAC with 181 strikeouts and is just seven shy of breaking the school record for strikeouts in a single season (Megan McHugh in 2007). Opponents are batting just .189 against Determan. Gavi Burrola is 6-7 this season with a 3.97 ERA.
Next up... Northwestern will take on Morningside tomorrow night in another GPAC doubleheader at 5/7:00 pm in Orange City, Iowa.
2008 media guide
