Following a year hiatus, the University of Redlands softball team heads to the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament for the eighth time in the event's nine-year history. Seeded third after posting a 16-12 regular-season conference mark, the Bulldogs square off against the second-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (31-8-1, 24-4 SCIAC) on Friday, May 6, at 12:30 p.m. on the campus of top-seeded University of La Verne.
Play continues on Saturday, May 7, with the winner of the tournament gaining the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships.
Under the direction of third-year Head Coach Dani Spaulding, the Maroon and Gray put together a solid 2-2 effort against the SCIAC champions from La Verne, splitting both doubleheaders while suffering a pair of one-run losses. Redlands is 3-1 against Whittier College.
Senior center-fielder AJ Carrasco (Whittier, CA) paces the Bulldogs in most categories, including stolen bases (24), walks (18), runs (43), hits (55), and triples (7). She also leads the way among the starters in batting average (.491), on-base percentage (.561), and slugging percentage (.804). Senior left-fielder Grace Rose (Villa Park, CA) and senior second baseman Vicki King (Thousand Oaks, CA) provide excellent fire power, as well. Rose boasts a batting average of .408 with 51 hits in a team-leading 125 at-bats, while King leads the squad with 40 RBI, seven round-trippers, and eight doubles.
In the circle, the Bulldogs rely on senior Lauren Henson (Highland, CA) to set the tone with her nine wins and 2.42 ERA in 98.2 innings pitched. Freshman Lindsey Mifsud (Belmont, CA) provides an equally successful arm with 33 strikeouts for a 2.22 ERA and 11 wins over 110.1 innings.
Despite earning a national ranking of No. 14 as the only SCIAC school among the poll, CMS completed the regular season just one game behind the Leopards in second place. During the regular season, the Athenas dropped three games to La Verne and one to Chapman University but went undefeated against the Bulldogs. CMS enters the 2016 tournament as the only team to qualify every year since the event's inception in 2008.
Tara Robinson paces the Athenas' offense as the team's center-fielder with a batting average of .422 that includes a conference-leading 57 hits, primarily as the lead-off hitter. First baseman Katie Savard closely follows with a .368 showing off 43 base-knocks, which are highlighted by 11 two-baggers.
From the circle, CMS relies on the SCIAC Pitcher of the Year in Katie Gurr, who boasts an ERA of 1.13 in 142 innings pitched. She has accounted for 17 wins in 20 starts and 28 appearances.
The La Verne Leopards (29-9, 25-3 SCIAC) take on the fourth-seeded Whittier College Poets (20-20, 12-16 SCIAC) in the other first-round match on Friday at 10 a.m.
La Verne picked up its first conference championship in 12 years and sixth title overall to earn the right to host this year's postseason tournament. The Leopards are riding a 14-game winning streak that began after a 2-3 loss to Redlands. SCIAC Athlete of the Year Katherine Kibbe leads the Leopards with her 1.63 ERA and 19-4 record from the circle and her .345 batting average at the plate.
As a team, Whittier tops the conference with 32 round-trippers and 66 doubles. Marialena Ahern became the regular-season home run champion with 13 bombs, while SCIAC Co-Newcomer of the Year Kacey Whitney ranks first with 16 doubles. Samantha Blum carries the pitching staff with 31 appearances, 21 starts, and 13 wins en route to an ERA of 3.45.
For additional information about the SCIAC Postseason Tournament, including ticket prices, streaming access, and more, please visit La Verne's tournament central page.