Game Time... Northwestern College begins play at the GPAC Softball Postseason tournament this week in Fremont, Neb. The Red Raiders are the No.4 seed in the Midland Bracket and will open against No.5 seed University of Jamestown in the first game on Thursday, May 2 at noon on Christensen Field. If Northwestern wins game one, they would play the winner of the second game, No.1 Midland vs No.8 Dordt, at 4pm; if the Red Raiders drop game one, they would play the loser of game two at 6pm. 

    Follow the Midland Bracket games live on the Midland webcast at this link: Watch Now!

All-Time vs Jamestown...The Red Raiders are 6-3 all-time against Jamestown, dating back to the first match-up in the 2005 season. 

Tournament Format...The GPAC Softball Tournament is comprised of two, four-team brackets, hosted by the co-regular season champions, Midland and Morningside. Both four-team brackets are double-elimination and will crown the winner on Friday, May 3. The two bracket winners will then play for the GPAC postseason championship on Saturday, May 4 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 3-3 against the three teams in the Midland bracket; 2-0 vs Jamestown, 1-1 vs Midland and 0-2 against Dordt.

No.1 seed Midland: 18-4 (T1st), 28-8 overall        Head Coach: Mike Heard (4th year)

The Warriors shared the GPAC regular season title with Morningside for the second consecutive year, posting an 18-4 record. They earned the top seed by way of their sweep against the Mustangs. Midland went 8-2 down the stretch and had its eight game win streak snapped on Monday with a 9-1, five-inning loss to Northwestern. Midland is 28-8 overall. 

Hired in the summer of 2014, Heard is in his fourth season as the head of the Warriors program after a 10-year stint as the head of a very successful travel program in Nebraska. Heard was named the GPAC Coach of the Year last season after leading Midland to the national tournament and winning the GPAC regular season title. They finished 16-4, 36-17 overall and return eight starters and 13 players from last year's squad. 

By the Numbers:  (GPAC rank)
    Batting Average: .328 (1st)       Opponent Batting Average: .206 (1st)
    Runs / Game: 5.3 (5th)             Runs Given Up / Game: 2.8 (1st)
    Hits / Game: 9 (2nd)                 Hits Given Up / Game: 5.2 (1st)
    Stolen Bases: 33/39 (6th)         Stolen Bases by Opponent: 17/23
    ERA: 2.00 (1st)                          ERA: 4.89
    K's: 294 (1st)                             K's: 189

    Individual Players:
    Katlin Anders (2x all-conf)  .527 (1st), 40 runs (3rd), 10 HR (T1st), 35 RBI (3rd)
    Sierra Athow (all-conf)  .443 (2nd), 28 runs, 4 HR, 31 RBI (9th)
    Angela Brazil  .346, 21 runs, 5 HR (8th), 25 RBI
    Bobbi Singleton (all-conf)  .340, 8 runs, 2 HR, 23 RBI
   
    Jaylee Hinrich (All-American; GPAC Pitcher of the Year)  19-4 (1st), 1.09 ERA (1st), 224 K's (1st)
    Hailee Fliam  7-4, 3.24 ERA (10th)  75.2 IP, 53 K's

    Recap vs Northwestern | 

No. 5 seed University of Jamestown: 11-11 (T4th), 27-17            Head Coach: Kevin Gall (19th year)

The Jimmies closed the season losing six of their last eight games, dropping doubleheaders to both Northwestern and Morningside and splitting games against DWU and Dordt. They finished tied for fourth in the GPAC, along with Northwestern and Mount Marty, and earned the No.5 seed due to tie-break procedures. 

Gall, the long-time skipper for the Jimmies, has over 500 wins during his 19-year tenure. He has led Jamestown to the NAIA National Tournament - Opening Round the last two years, winning the North Star Athletic Association regular season title last season with a 22-3 record, 44-10 overall. Gall returns four starters and his top pitcher from last year. 

By the Numbers:  (GPAC rank)
    Batting Average: .320 (3rd)       Opponent Batting Average: .258 (3rd)
    Runs / Game: 5.8 (4th)              Runs Given Up / Game: 4.2 (5th)
    Hits / Game: 9.2 (1st)                 Hits Given Up / Game: 6.6 (3rd)
    Stolen Bases: 34/48 (5th)          Stolen Bases by Opponent: 41/54
    ERA: 3.50 (6th)                          ERA: 4.57
    K's: 272 (2nd)                             K's: 159

    Individual Players:
    Mikayla Frost (All-Conference) .414, 14 runs, 5 RBI
    Allie McClain  .349, 25 runs, 19 RBI
    Mariah Martinez  .347, 21 runs, 16 RBI
    Morgan Geiszler  .346, 32 runs (10th), 14 2B (3rd), 34 RBI
    Meghan Ramage (All-Conference)  .341, 23 runs, 3 HR, 28 RBI
        
    Kat Miska (NSAA Pitcher of the Year)  12-7, 2.87 ERA, 119.1 IP (7th), 164 K's (2nd)
    Katie Merchant  12-8, 3.47 ERA, 119 IP (8th), 85 K's

    Recap vs Northwestern | 

No.8 Seed Dordt College:  10-12 (T7th), 18-21            Head Coach: Jeff Zomer (10th year)

The Defenders tied College of Saint Mary for seventh in the GPAC regular season, both finishing with a 10-12 record. The went 5-3 during the final week, sweeping both Waldorf and Briar Cliff, splitting games with Jamestown and were swept by Concordia. Dordt is 18-21 overall. 

Zomer has a 187-211 overall record heading into his 10th season as the Defenders' head coach. He returns four starters and 10 players from a 2018 squad that finished 24-20 and tied for fourth place in the GPAC regular season at 11-9. They were picked tied for sixth, along with Doane, in the GPAC preseason poll. 

By the Numbers (GPAC rank)
    Batting Average: .234 (12th)       Opponent Batting Average: .307 (9th)
    Runs / Game: 3.1 (12th)             Runs Given Up / Game: 3.9 (4th)
    Hits / Game: 6.1 (12th)                Hits Given Up / Game: 8.6 (10th)
    Stolen Bases: 28/33 (T7th)         Stolen Bases by Opponent: 35/55
    ERA: 3.24 (4th)                           ERA: 2.50
    K's: 156 (7th )                              K's: 242
    
    Individual Leaders (GPAC Rank)
     Rachel Evavold (1st team all-conf.)  .411 (6th), 13 2B (6th), 3 HR, 18 RBI
     Marissa Vandenberg (2x all-conf.)  .295, HR, 23 runs, 8 2B, 4 HR, 14 RBI
     Hailey Heeringa (all-conf.)  .262, 10 runs, 10 2B, 15 RBI     

    Tianna Soodsma  (all-conf.)  8-8, 2.68 (4th), 122.2 IP, 8 BB (1st), 72 K's
    Rachel Evavold  7-6, 3.59 ERA  80 IP, 54 K's

    Recap vs Northwestern

    Northwestern College - 11-11 (T4th), 18-23            Head Coach: Shane Bouman (1st year)

The Red Raiders closed the regular season with a split against Midland and went 3-5 during the final week. They also split with Concordia and College of Saint Mary and were swept by Mount Marty. Northwestern finished tied with the Lancers and Jamestown for fourth place at 11-11, winning the tie break to get the No.4 seed. They are 18-23 overall. 

By the Numbers (GPAC rank)
    Batting Average: .300 (7th)        Opponent Batting Average: .303 (8th)
    Runs / Game: 5.1 (6th)              Runs Given Up / Game: 5 (7th)
    Hits / Game: 7.5 (8th)                Hits Given Up / Game: 8.3 (9th)
    Stolen Bases: 64/86 (2nd)         Stolen Bases by Opponent: 39/43
    ERA: 3.47 (5th)                          ERA: 4.19
    K's: 155 (8th )                             K's: 167
    
    Individual Leaders (GPAC Rank)
    Jennifer Boeve - .388, 27 runs, 20 RBI
    Emily Bosch - .340, 33 runs (8th), 2 HR, 20 RBI
    Amber Schubert - .328, 34 runs (6th), 6 HR (T7), 33 RBIs (7th)
    Devin Dreesen - .312, 13 runs, 5 2B, 27 RBI
    Emma Schnell - 11-14, 3.27 ERA, 122 IP (5th), 30 BB, 70 K's
    Samantha Ubben - 4-5, 3.51 ERA, 87.2 IP, 65 K's