The Event... The Northwestern College softball team will begin play this afternoon at the 2008 NAIA Region III Softball Tournament hosted by Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. Eight teams comprise this year's tournament, six from the GPAC and two from the DAC Conference. The double-elimination tournament will conclude Friday, May 9 with the winner advancing to the NAIA Softball Tournament in Decatur, Alabama, May 16-21. Follow along with the entire tournament at the following link: Tournament Web-Site.
The Red Raiders games can be heard via the NWC webcast at the following link: Listen Live
The Teams... The eight team tournament field includes eighth-ranked and 2007 regional champion Dickinson State as the top seed. Morningside, the GPAC postseason champion, is seeded second, followed by GPAC regular season champion Concordia. Both the Mustangs and Bulldogs received votes in last week's NAIA rankings. Minot State (N.D.) earned the fourth seed followed by Doane, Midland Lutheran, Northwestern and Dana.
Last Year... Northwestern went 1-2 at the 2007 regional tournament as the #4 seed. The Red Raiders knocked off Minot State, 3-2, in an opening round game before they lost to #1 seed Dickinson State (3-1) and Dana (7-2). Dickinson State defeated Morningside in last year's championship game, 5-4, and advanced to the 2007 national tournament.
Red Raider News and Notes... The Red Raiders are making their fourth straight regional tournament appearance and seventh in nine seasons. In 2002, Northwestern went 3-0 at the regional tournament and qualified for their second national tournament in the program's history.
Six NWC players earned all-conference honors as announced by the GPAC earlier this week. Freshman Lexy Determan earned co-Pitcher-of-the-Year and first team all-league honors. Determan was second in the GPAC with 20 wins and led the conference in strikeouts (242), opponents batting average (.188) and shutouts (8). Lizz Swanson also earned first team honors as the senior led the league with 11 home runs and ranked second in RBIs with 46. The senior from Urbandale earned second team honors the last three years. Amy Larson, Sara Curry, Stacey Godfrey and Michelle Van Duyn earned honorable mention all-GPAC honors.
Northwestern is 4-9 against this year's regional tournament field. They are 1-2 vs Concordia, 0-2 vs Midland Lutheran, 2-0 vs Dana, 0-3 vs Doane and 1-2 vs Morningside.
Next up... The Red Raiders will have to win the regional tournament to advance to the 20-team NAIA National Tournament which will be played in Decatur, Alabama, May 16-21.
2008 media guide
