Midland University Softball GPAC Postseason Tournament Preview

The Warriors have earned the No. 4 seed in the tournament and will open play on Thursday, May 2nd versus No. 5 Doane College. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. on field two at SYA Complex in Sioux City, Iowa. Second round games will also be played on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. with semifinal play taking place on Friday and the championships running on Saturday. For complete coverage of the 2013 Great Plains Athletic Conference Softball Tournament visit www.gpacsports.com. The Tournament Champion will gain the second automatic berth for the GPAC in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round. If Hastings wins the tournament the tourney runner-up will gain the second automatic berth.

Recent Games: Midland University softball split with Dakota Wesleyan University on Monday. After an 11-0 win in game one, the Warriors dropped game two, 5-4. The split comes in the final games before conference postseason play. Midland opened the game's scoring in the first inning as Sarah Leimser singled to advance Jennie Sayker to third, and then Sayker was plated on a throwing error. Leimser then scored off of a Sammy Hislop double to put Midland up, 2-0. The Warriors scored two more runs in the third, and in the fifth, a Liz Spooner three run homerun gave Midland a 7-0 advantage. In the top of the seventh inning the Warriors came up big with four runs to cap off the victory. The inning was kicked off by a Kourtney Wallick double to score Matti Petersen. Sayker also doubled to plate Spooner. The scoring was finished after Nicole Andrews batted in Wallick and the Midland defense came up with a big stop in the bottom of the seventh to leave the Tigers scoreless. After two scoreless innings Dakota Wesleyan got on the board in the bottom of third plating three runs. Midland hit back in the fifth inning as a Sarah Leimser sacrifice fly scored Jennie Sayker and advanced Nicole Andrews to third. On the following at bat, Liz Spooner doubled and scored Andrews to cut the Warrior deficit to 3-2. However, the Tigers answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Midland threatened in the top of the seventh as Matti Petersen plated Liz Spooner and Nicole Andrews to leave the Warriors trailing only by one, 5-4, but Dakota Wesleyan picked up the final out of the contest with Petersen and Emily Kmiecik left on base.

About Midland: The Warrior squad is 19-20 overall and 13-7 in conference to finish regular season play in 2013. Nicole Andrews paces Midland from the plate with a .339 batting average with 18 runs and 20 RBIs while Kayla Ritzdorf holds a .333 batting average with 17 runs. Emily Kmiecik has recorded 15 RBIs and two home runs and Matti Petersen has hit three homeruns and has plated 16 RBIs. Jennie Sayker tops the Warriors with 27 runs and 12 stolen bases. Sammy Hislop leads the Warriors from the circle holding an ERA of 2.01 in 129 innings pitched. Hislop has recorded an overall record of 13-6 while striking out 147 to lead the GPAG while holding the opponents to a batting average of .200.

Coaching: Coach Keith Kramme is in his 17th season as the head coach of the Warriors. Holding a career record of 435-399-1, Kramme has led Midland to heavy success. The Warriors earned five consecutive berths into the NAIA Region IV Tournament from 2001-2005, advancing to the championship game of the tournament every year from 2002-2005. Midland finished as runner-up in the regional tournament in 2002, 2004, and 2005 and they were crowned NAIA Region IV champions in 2003, earning their first ever berth into the NAIA National Championship Tournament. Kramme also led Midland to back-to-back GPAC championships and GPAC Tournament Championships in 2003 and 2004. Midland qualified for the NAIA Region III Tournament in 2007 and 2008. In 2010 and 2011 the Warriors appeared again in the NAIA National Tournament.

Full Tournament Schedule:
Day One -Thursday, May 2, 2013
SYA Complex in Sioux City, Iowa (Riverside)
(Games 1 - 8)
Game 1-Field 2, 2:00 pm
(1) Hastings (26-10, 16-4) vs. (8) Briar Cliff (12-18, 8-12)
Game 2-Field 4, 2:00 pm
(4) Midland (19-20, 13-7) vs. (5) Doane (16-22, 11-9)
Game 3-Field 3, 2:00 pm
(3) Northwestern (25-20, 13-7) vs. (6) Nebraska Wesleyan (16-17, 10-10)
Game 4-Field 1, 2:00 pm
(2) Morningside (26-13, 15-5) vs. (7) Dakota Wesleyan (10-24, 8-12)
Game 5-Field 4, 4:00 pm
Loser 1 vs. Loser 2 (elimination game)
Game 6-Field 3, 4:00 pm
Loser 3 vs. Loser 4 (elimination game)
Game 7-Field 2, 4:00 pm
Winner 1 vs. Winner 2
Game 8-Field 1, 4:00 pm
Winner 3 vs. Winner 4

Day Two - Friday, May 3, 2013
SYA Complex in Sioux City, Iowa (Riverside)
(Games 9-13)
Game 9-Field 1, 2:00 pm
Loser 8 vs. Winner 5 (elimination game)
Game 10-Field 3, 2:00 pm
Loser 7 vs. Winner 6 (elimination game)
Game 11-Field 1, 4:00 pm
Winner 7 vs. Winner 8 (winners bracket championship)
Game 12-Field 3, 4:00 pm
Winner 9 vs. Winner 10 (elimination game)
Game 13-Field 1, 6:00 pm
Loser 11 vs. Winner 12 (loser's bracket championship)

Day Three - Saturday, May 4, 2013
SYA Complex in Sioux City, Iowa (Riverside)
(Game 14) (Game 15 if needed)
Game 14-Field 2, NOON
Winner 11 vs. Winner 13
(Championship #1)
Game 15-Field 2, 2:00 pm
(Championship #2 - If Needed)