Game Time... The Northwestern College softball team will go for their seventh and eighth straight wins this afternoon as they travel to Blair, Neb. to play Dana College in a GPAC doubleheader. First pitch of game one scheduled for 3:00pm with game two around 5:00. The Red Raiders have won six straight and are fourth in the league with a 12-6 record, 22-14 overall. Dana is 11-7 (sixth place) and 17-14 overall.
Scouting Report... The Vikings are coming off a 2007 season in which they finished tied for second place with Northwestern at 18-6 in the GPAC, 37-22 overall. Head Coach Marcy Roff is in her fifth season at Dana and earned GPAC Coach-of-the-Year honors in 2006. Dana is 11-7 in the GPAC, 17-14 overall this season.
Dana is 10th in the league with a .254 batting average and scores 3.8 runs per game. Defensively, the Vikings are tied for fifth with a .950 fielding percentage and opponents are scoring 2.8 runs per game against them. Their pitching staff sports a 1.65 team ERA, second best in the GPAC.
The Vikings are led by two-time GPAC Player-of-the-Year Josie Barrow who is batting .365 this season with one home run and 11 RBIs. Maggie Downs, a senior infielder and first team all-GPAC player in 2007, is second on the team with a .330 average with a team-best 24 runs scored. Junior Lindy Bohlmann, also a first team performer in 2007, is batting .160 this season with six RBIs. Paige Brune, a second team all-GPAC player in 2007, returns for her junior year and is batting .238 with a team-best five home runs this season. T.J. Beeman ranks fourth on the team with a .305 average and 25 hits. On the mound, Cassie Lager leads the GPAC with a 0.86 ERA and a 9-3 record. In 81 2/3 innings, the senior has 71 strikeouts and just 16 walks. Both Lager and junior Mindy Schoop earned first team all-GPAC honors in 2007. Schoop is 3-4 this season with a 3.33 ERA while Ashley Jess is 1-3 with a 0.55 ERA.
Last Time Out... Dana swept past Nebraska Wesleyan on April 23, 3-0 and 6-4, for their fourth straight win. No stats available at this time.
Northwestern College swept a key GPAC doubleheader from Briar Cliff, 5-0 and 1-0 for their six straight win on April 23. They improved to 22-14 overall, 12-6 in the GPAC with six games left in the regular season.
Lexy Determan (15-7) earned the win in game one as the freshman allowed just one hit, a fifth-inning single to Kashe Manley. She walked two and struck out six, which tied the single season strikeout mark of 187 set in 2007 by Megan McHugh. The Red Raiders registered seven hits, led by sophomore Sara Curry who went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Northwestern opened the scoring in the second inning on a two-out, three-run double by Michelle Van Duyn. Coach Mason's squad scored two more in the fifth off a two-run single by Stacey Godfrey which scored Curry and Lizz Swanson.
Game two featured a pitcher's dual between Briar Cliff starter Camille Cruz and Red Raider starting pitcher, Gavi Burrola. The teams' combined for just five hits, three by the Chargers and two by Northwestern. Coach Mason's squad scored the only run of the game in the fourth inning when Sara Curry tripled with two outs and scored off an BCU error on a ball hit by Stacey Godfrey. It was enough for Burrola who evened her record to 7-7 this season. The junior gave up three hits and struck out two in 5 2/3 innings. Determan pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for her second save and became the school's single season strikeout leader with a strikeout of Jennifer Kruckenburg to lead off the seventh inning. This was the third consecutive shutout by the Red Raider pitching staff and increased their scoreless streak to 22 innings.
Next up... Northwestern will travel to Crete, Neb. on Monday, April 28 to play Doane in a GPAC doubleheader. The Red Raiders will close out the regular season with a home doubledip against Morningside on April 29.
2008 media guide
