The Event... The Northwestern College softball team will begin play at the 2008 GPAC Softball Tournament this afternoon at the Smith Softball Complex in Hastings, Neb. The eight-team, double-elimination tournament will conclude tomorrow night (Friday, May 2), weather permitting, with the championship game(s) slated for 4/6:00 pm. To view the complete GPAC softball tournament schedule, click on the following link: GPAC softball tournament.
The Tournament Field... The Red Raiders enter postseason play as the fourth seed with a 15-9 record, 25-17 overall. Concordia, the regular season champion and tournament's top seed, finished league play with a 21-3 record. Midland Lutheran, Morningside, Briar Cliff, Dana, Doane and Hastings complete the tournament field. Concordia, as the regular season champion, earns one of the automatic berths to the Region III Tournament which will be held next week in Sioux City, Iowa. The postseason champion will earn a second automatic bid with the remaining four berths given out based on the final regional rankings released next week. Click on the following link to view this past week's regional rankings: Regional Rankings.
In 2007... The Red Raiders were the second seed in last year's tournament where they finished with a 1-2 record. They defeated Hastings in the opening game but then lost two straight to Dana and Midland Lutheran in the elimination game. Fifth-seeded Concordia won the 2007 event.
Red Raider Notes... Northwestern finished regular season play with a 15-9 league record and tied for fourth place with Briar Cliff and Dana. The Red Raiders swept both teams during the regular season to earn the fourth seed in the postseason tournament. They are 25-17 overall and moved up to sixth in the latest regional rankings.
As a team, Coach Mason's squad scores 4.02 runs per game and has a batting average of .262. Defensively, Northwestern is one of the top fielding teams in the league (.962) and allow just 2.7 runs per game. The pitching staff sports a 2.46 ERA.
Leading the NWC pitching staff is freshman Lexy Determan who is second in the league with 18 wins so far this season. The current GPAC, Region and NAIA Pitcher-of-the-Week is the school's record holder with 220 strikeouts in a single season. Determan carries a 1.67 ERA into the tournament with opponents hitting just .184 against the right-hander. Gavi Burrola holds a 7-9 record with a 3.86 ERA coming into the tournament. Burrola has 38 strikeouts in 101 2/3 innings pitched.
Offensively, Northwestern is led by senior Lizz Swanson who is batting .359 with a league-best 10 home runs. She also leads the team with 42 RBIs and carries a .408 on-base-percentage into the tournament. Michelle Van Duyn, a senior outfielder, is batting .326 with 24 runs scored and 17 RBIs. She also leads the team with 13 stolen bases. Sara Curry, one of the Red Raiders hottest hitters coming into the weekend, is batting .302 with 17 runs and 13 RBIs. Freshmen Stacey Godfrey (.276) and Rachel Harris (.273) are the other top hitters for Coach Mason's squad.
NWC vs Tournament Field This Season... Northwestern will open the tournament with #5 Briar Cliff. The Red Raiders swept the Chargers on April 23, 5-0 and 1-0. Lexy Determan allowed just one hit in the game one win to improve to 15-7 overall. Gavi Burrola earned the win in game two as the junior gave up three hits while Determan picked up her second save of the season.
The Red Raiders are 0-2 vs #1 Concordia, 0-2 vs #2 Midland Lutheran, 1-1 vs #3 Morningside, 2-0 vs #5 Briar Cliff, 2-0 vs #6 Dana, 0-2 vs #7 Doane and 0-2 vs #8 Hastings.
Next up... The Red Raiders are looking to secure one of the five available bids for the six-team Region III Tournament which will be played next week in Sioux City.
2008 media guide
