Game Time...Northwestern College opens postseason play at the GPAC Softball Tournament this weekend in Sioux City, Iowa. The Red Raiders are the third seed and will play No.6 Doane in the first game of the Morningside Bracket on Friday morning at 10am. Northwestern finished 15-5 in conference play, 30-9 overall while Doane finished tied for fourth place in the GPAC regular season with an 11-9 record, 27-19 overall. 

Follow the games live (Audio and Live Stats) via the NWC webcast at the following link:  Watch Now!

Morningside webcast | 

Tournament Format...The GPAC Softball Tournament is comprised of two, four-team brackets, hosted by the regular season champion, Midland, and the second place team, Morningside. Both four-team brackets are double-elimination and will crown the winner on Saturday. The two bracket winners will then play for the GPAC postseason championship on Monday, May 7 in a best-of-three series at the site of the highest remaining seed. 

    GPAC Postseason Bracket |

At Stake...The winner of the postseason tournament will get the GPAC's second automatic bid into the NAIA Softball National Championship opening round. Midland, by way of winning the regular season title, earned the league's first auto bid.

Tournament Capsules...

    Northwestern is 5-1 against the three teams in the Morningside bracket, going 1-1 against the host Mustangs and 2-0 against both Doane and Concordia. 

        No.2 Morningside Mustangs: 16-4 (T1st), 28-11        Head Coach: Jessica Jones-Sitzman (20th year)

Morningside is the only team from the conference that is currently ranked in the top 25, holding down the 23rd spot with a 28-11 record. They closed the regular season with four straight wins to finish tied with Midland for first at 16-4, losing the top seed by way of tie-break procedures. They swept both Hastings and Mount Marty and split with Doane in the final week of the regular season.

Jones-Sitzman, in her 20th season as the Mustangs' head coach, is the all-time winningest coach of any sport at Morningside, owning a 653-349 record coming into the season. She has guided the Mustangs to 13 30 win seasons, eight NAIA championship appearances and 14 conference titles (regular and postseason). Jones-Sitzman, the 2016 and 2017 GPAC coach of the year, returns three starters and nine players from a 2017 team that won the GPAC regular season title with a 17-3 record, 40-12 overall. They went 1-2 at the NAIA Championships.

    By the Numbers:  (GPAC rank)
    Batting Average: .314 (4th)        Opponent Batting Average: .321 (3rd)
    Runs / Game: 6.5 (2nd)              Runs Given Up / Game: 3.9 (4th)
    Hits / Game: 8.6 (4th)                 Hits Given Up / Game: 7.7 (3rd)
    Stolen Bases: 36/41 (5th)          Stolen Bases by Opponent: 19/24

    Individual Players:
    Abby Connor (1st team all-GPAC in 2016): .393 BA (9th), 8 HR (5th), 35 RBI (6th)
    Carson Cameron: .372 BA, 24 runs, 2 HR, 23 RBI
    Jess Walker: .365 BA, 10 runs, HR, 12 RBI
    Tracey Edwards: .358 BA, 33 runs (5th), 14 RBIs

    Hallie Misiaszek: 21-5, 2.67 ERA (4th), 152.1 IP (1st), 131 K's (4th)

    Recap vs Northwestern | 

    Doane Tigers: 11-9 (T4th), 27-19    Head Coach: Aurelia Gamch (1st)

The Tigers finished tied with both Dordt and Dakota Wesleyan for fourth place in the regular season, earning the No.6 seed by way of tie-break procedures. They went 11-9 in conference play, 27-19 overall. Doane went 4-2 during the final week of the regular season, splitting with both Morningside and Midland while taking two from Briar Cliff. 

Hired last July to take over the program, Gamch inherits a Doane team that returns seven starters, including its top three pitchers, and a total of 10 players from a 2017 team that finished tied for eighth in the GPAC with an 8-12 record, 24-25 overall. 

By the Numbers:   (GPAC rank / NAIA rank if top 10)
    Batting Average: .352 (1st)           Opponent Batting Average: .300 (5th)
    Runs / Game: 7 (1st)                    Runs Given Up / Game: 5.6 (6th)
    Hits / Game: 10.6 (1st)                 Hits Given Up / Game: 8.3 (5th)
    Stolen Bases: 59/64 (2nd)            Stolen Bases by Opponent: 53/58

    Individual Players:
    Jordan Van roy (All-Conference): .486 BA (2nd), 44 runs (3rd), 16 2B, 8 HR (T5), 42 RBI (2nd)
    Nicole Fernandez (2x All-Conference): .418 BA (4th), 51 runs (1st), 14 2B, 6 HR, 30 RBIs
    Brittney Amezquita: .406 BA (5th), 45 runs (2nd), 36 RBIs (6th)
   Jordyn Stearns: .370 BA, 29 runs, 9 HR (T3rd), 43RBIs

    Josie Schnakenberg: 13-7, 2.93 ERA (6th), 124.1 IP, 102 K's (5th)
    Haileigh Arthur: 6-2, 3.62 ERA (10th), 79.1 IP, 60 K's (7th)

    Game Recap vs Northwestern |

    Concordia Bulldogs: 10-10 (7th), 21-19   Head Coach: Todd LaVelle (5th year)

The Bulldogs went 4-2 during the final week of the regular season to finish seventh in the GPAC with a 10-10 record.  They split doubleheaders against Dakota Wesleyan and Dordt and swept College of Saint Mary to push their record to 21-19 overall. 

LaVelle returns just two starters and six players from a 2017 team that finished second in the GPAC with a 14-6 record, 34-14 overall, second most wins in program history. Despite the loss of seven starters, including four players who earned first or second team all-conference honors, LaVelle's young squad was picked second in the GPAC preseason poll.

By the Numbers:   (GPAC rank / NAIA rank if top 10)
    Batting Average: .321 (2nd)      Opponent Batting Average: .327 (8th)
    Runs / Game: 6.2 (3rd)             Runs Given Up / Game: 5.9 (8th)
    Hits / Game: 9.4 (2nd)               Hits Given Up / Game: 9.5 (10th)
    Stolen Bases: 46/57 (3rd)          Stolen Bases by Opponent: 31/37

    Individual Players:
    Hhana Haro: .500 (1st), 35 runs (4th), 20 2B (2nd), 38 RBIs (3rd)
    Elanna Osthoff: .378, 16 runs, 21 RBIs
    Mackinsey Schmidt: .339, 28 runs, 16 RBIs
    Leah Kalkwarf (1st team all-conference): .328 (5th), 31 runs (7th), 2 HR, 21 RBI

    Brittany Woolridge: 5-7, 4.17 ERA  87.1 IP, 61 K's
    Grace Bernhardt:10-6, 4.69 ERA, 100 IP, 57 K's

    Game Recap vs Northwestern | 

 (RV) Northwestern College: 15-5 (3rd), 30-9     Head Coach: Chris Nachtigall (7th year)

The Red Raiders finished third in the regular season with a 15-5 record, going 4-2 over the final week with a sweep against College of Saint Mary and a split with Mount Marty and Hastings. Northwestern is 30-9 overall, its first 30-win season since 2014 and 13th overall. They have a 77% win percentage, highest since the 2000 season and third best overall (behind the 1997 and 2000 seasons). 

Northwestern has hit 42 home runs, second most in the GPAC and second most all-time in program history, trailing the 1996 team that hit 44.

Nachtigall has won two GPAC regular season titles in his seven seasons as the head coach, claiming the title in 2012 and 2014. 

By the Numbers: (GPAC rank)
    Batting Average: .295 (5th)       Opponent Batting Average: .245 (1st)
    Runs / Game: 5.4 (4th)              Runs Given Up / Game: 2.9 (1st)
    Hits / Game: 8.3 (5th)                Hits Given Up / Game: 6.6 (1st)
    Stolen Bases: 64/78 (1st)          Stolen Bases by Opponent: 18/22

    Individual Players:
    Jensen Boger: .378 BA, 21 runs, 16 RBIs 
    Emily Bosch: .369 BA, 21 runs, 5 HR, 23 RBIs
     Cheyenne Wilcke: .298 BA, 26 runs, 11 HR (1st), 28 RBIs
    Jessica Sandbulte: .292 BA, 29 runs, 11 2B (7th), 4 HR, 18 RBI
    Madison Beaver: .288 BA, 19 runs, HR, 10 RBI

    Emma Schnell: 15-3 (3rd in wins), 1.61 ERA (1st), 122 IP, 16 BB, 85 K's
    Kayla Tindall: 14-5 (4th in wins), 2.24 ERA (3rd), 122 IP, 34 BB, 117 K's (2nd)