[Championship Page]

[PDF Release]

RIPON, Wis. – The 2013 Midwest Conference (MWC) Softball Championship will open on Friday, May 3 with the first four games and concludes on Saturday with the MWC Champion being crowned.

St. Norbert hosts the tournament after finishing atop the North Division with Lake Forest heading into play as the top seed in the South Division. Cornell and Lawrence will join the two division winners in De Pere and battle to be the next MWC Champion.

The double elimination tournament kicks off on Friday when Lake Forest will face off against Lawrence at 10 a.m. St. Norbert and Cornell will square off at 12 p.m. with the two losing teams play at 2 p.m. and the two winning teams of the first game playing at 4 p.m. Saturday features as many as three games with the first game starting at 10 a.m. The winner of the tournament will earn the conference’s bid to the NCAA Tournament.

#2N Lawrence (19-13, 10-3 MWC) vs. #1S Lake Forest (17-16, 12-3 MWC)

Lake Forest won the South Division for the seventh time in the last eight years and aims for its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2006. The Foresters enter with one of the top offenses in the league, led by five players hitting .300 or better. Kayla Borgra finished fifth in the conference with a .411 average and posted a team-best 1.026 OPS with seven doubles and two home runs. Kristi Gandy compliments Borgra with a .379 average and eight doubles while Whitney Leiderman is hitting .327 and leads the team in runs scored (27) and extra base hits (seven doubles, a triple, and eight home runs). Gandy pulls double duty and holds a 1.51 ERA that leads the MWC with three complete games and 11 earned runs allowed in 51 innings. Jessi Werner started 14 games and has nine wins to go along with a 2.97 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 89.2 innings. As a team the Foresters are tied for the MWC lead in home runs (25) and also are second in the conference in total bases (403) and ERA (2.40).

Lawrence returns to the tournament for the first time since 2006 and plays for the school’s first title since 1999. The Vikings boast the league’s top pitching staff with a 2.37 ERA with teams only hitting .265 and allowing a league-low 101 runs in 32 games. Shannon Murray ranks seventh in the league with a 2.19 ERA in 128 innings while finishing fourth with a .249 opponent batting average. Murray also earned 12 of the teams 19 wins while allowing only 40 earned runs. Offensively, Lawrence hit .291 as a team and led by Murray, who hit .398 (seventh in MWC) with eight doubles and a triple. Cathy Kaye led the team in extra-base hits with 11 doubles and two home runs while Alex Chiodo hit .352 with five doubles and a pair of triples.

#2S Cornell (20-14, 9-6 MWC) at #1S St. Norbert (19-13, 10-4 MWC)

St. Norbert is back in the four team field as they defend its 2012 title and play for a chance at a NCAA Tournament bid for the seventh straight season. Offensively the Green Knights lean on two-time MWC North Division Player of the Year Steph Brunette who ranks third in the league with a .446 average. Brunette also ranks second in the MWC in runs scored (35) and hits (50) while collecting eight doubles, two triples, and two home runs. Morgan Buboltz leads the team with six home runs while hitting .310 as Samantha Gross hit .299 with three doubles and 17 runs scored. Morgan Rusch leads the rotation with a 3.52 ERA in 101.1 innings with teammate Shannen Schmidt posted eight wins and seven complete games in 15 starts.

Cornell is back in the tournament for the first time since the 1992 season and will be playing for the school’s first MWC Softball Championship. The Rams used a win in the final weekend to qualify for the tournament and enters as one of the most well rounded team in the league. As a team Cornell held a team average of .308 which was second in league and also finished second in slugging percentage (.444) and on base percentage (.369). Kari Martin headlines the offense as she finished sixth in the league with a .408 average with nine doubles, a triple, and four home runs which lead the team. Britt Schoon is second on the team with a .340 average and also has four home runs while Renata Rankin has a .333 average with seven doubles and four home runs. Cornell has the third best staff in terms of ERA (2.46) while holding opposing hitters to only a .254 average. Jackie Sernek leads the staff with a 1.70 ERA in 94.2 innings while also striking out 100 batters.