ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Missouri Western softball (27-19, 11-11 MIAA) wraps up the regular season this week with non-conference games at Missouri-St. Louis Tuesday and then a home doubleheader against Northwest Missouri State Saturday.

Tuesday's games at the UMSL Softball Field in St. Louis are set for 3 and 5 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader against the Bearcats is now set for a 12 and 2 p.m. start.

The Griffons come into the week with a season-best seven game winning streak.

Saturday will be Senior Day for Missouri Western's Sydney Rader, Mackenzie DeVine, Kennedy Preston, Kate Voisin, Taylor Jones and Bubba Hoelscher.

Good Postseason Shape
The Griffons have all but secured their spot in the 2025 MIAA Softball tournament.

Missouri Western, as it stands, would be the No. 7 seed in a 10-team field. The Griffs currently sit three games above the cut line with just two conference games left.

The MIAA tournament is April 30 – May 3 at Fleharty Family Field in Hays, Kansas. It'll be a single elimination tournament.

Last Time Out
Missouri Western softball extended its current win streak to seven games with a doubleheader sweep over Upper Iowa at home this past Saturday.

The Griffons won the first game 10-2 and the second 11-3 in a pair of run-rule victories at the MWSU Spring Sports Complex.

Game 1: Missouri Western 10 Upper Iowa 2 (5 innings)
Missouri Western got off to a 3-1 start in the first inning and never looked back. The Griffons benefitted from four Upper Iowa errors, and outhit the Peacocks 12-4.

Myah Dwyer, Kennedy Preston, Ayva McComas and Sienna Reed each had a pair of hits.

All the while, Sydney Rader (18-9) exceeded 600 career strikeouts in her 100^th career start, as she tossed the complete game and struck out six, allowing just one earned run.
She becomes just the second pitcher in Griffon Softball's 49-year history to reach 600 career strikeouts, joining Jackie Bishop. 

Game 2: Missouri Western 11 Upper Iowa 3 (5 innings)
Upper Iowa led 3-0 after the first, but it was all Griffs after that, as Western put up four runs in the second to grab the lead and then continued to expand on it.

Ashlyn Finarty led the offensive attack, going 3-3 with four RBI's, including a three-run home run in the fourth inning that gave Western a 10-3 lead. Sydney Young finished off the Peacocks in the fifth inning with an RBI single that gave the Griffons the run-rule walk-off.

Harley Pruetting (7-5) picked up the victory in the circle, allowing just one hit after the first inning. 

Thompson Time
Missouri Western softball has begun a new chapter in its storied history, as head coach Nicole Thompson is in her first season as the seventh head coach in program history.

Hired last June, Thompson came to the Griffons from NCAA Division II Regis University in Colorado, and is fresh off a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament championship and an NCAA South Central Regional appearance in 2024.

In her five seasons as head coach at Regis, Thompson compiled a 132-101 overall record, leading the Rangers to 33 wins or more in each of her last three seasons. Her 2024 team swept its way to the RMAC Tournament title as a No. 5 seed and earned the program's first NCAA Tournament berth since 2015. The Rangers also then defeated #1 nationally ranked West Texas A&M in the tournament's opening round. 
 
Prior to Regis, Thompson spent three seasons as head softball coach at NAIA Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. Thompson compiled an overall record of 82-70, while her Appalachian Athletic Conference record was a remarkable 50-20. She guided her team to third-place finishes in 2017 and 2018, earning AAC Coach of the Year honors in 2017. 
 
Thompson had a unique start to her coaching career. Originally accepting a position as the Assistant Director for Communications at Union College in February 2016, Thompson served as the Interim Head Coach beginning in September 2016 before being named the full-time head coach.
  
Thompson was a dual-sport athlete in college, competing in both softball and basketball for NAIA Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. As a softball player, she was a three-time All-KCAC First-Team selection at shortstop. Her team won two KCAC regular season championships and one KCAC Tournament title, while also making two NAIA National Tournament appearances (2012, 2013).

Joining Thompson on staff is pitching and catching coach Steffany Dickerson. Before MWSU, Dickerson was a graduate assistant at the University of Kansas and contributed to the Jayhawks' seven Top 25 victories in 2023 and '24.

Steffany was a standout starting pitcher at Missouri State who received numerous accolades, including MVC Pitcher of the Year and MVC All-Tournament MVP. She completed her collegiate career with an impressive ERA of 2.24 and 530 strikeouts.

Guess Who's Back
Missouri Western returns 11 players from a 2024 team that went 31-20 overall and 13-13 in the MIAA.

The Griffons return seven of their top eight hitters from a season ago - all seven of whom started 43 games or more. Shortstop Kalee Higdon is back after garnering second-team all-MIAA honors last year. Outfielder Mackenzie DeVine is now a two-time all-MIAA selection, picking up honorable mention honors last season.

In the circle, the Griffons return three-time all-MIAA senior Sydney Rader, who earned honorable mention all-conference accolades last season. Rader went 15-7 last year, striking out 149 in 161.2 innings. MWSU also brings back starters in Harley Pruetting and Ashlyn Finarty. Finarty was honorable mention all-MIAA in 2024, while Pruetting was an honorable mention all-conference pitcher in 2023.

Rader's Last Hurrah
In Rader's last go-around at Missouri Western, the fifth-year senior has been downright dominant in the circle. Rader currently ranks No. 1 in the MIAA in wins (18), complete games (23), innings pitched (167.0), strikeouts (158), second in complete game shutouts (7) and second in ERA (1.72).
 
Nationally, Rader's seven shutouts are tied for fifth most among all pitchers in NCAA Division II, her 23 complete games are tied for second most in the nation, the 167.0 innings pitched are 12^th most and her 18 wins are tied for 7^th most in the country.
 
Rader has also scattered her name all across the Missouri Western career record books. As of April 21, 2025, Rader ranks in the top five in program history in each of the following:

• 2.16 ERA (2^nd)
• 64 Ws (3^rd)
• 123 appearances (4^th) – one more to tie Janie Smith for 3^rd
• 100 games started (4^th) – four more to tie Dana Wurtz for 3^rd
• 639.2 IP (4^th)
• 602 K (2^nd)
• 2726 batters faced (5^th) – one more to tie Jonnelle Belger for 4^th
• .230 career opponent batting average (ties Allison Jones for 3^rd)
• 66 complete games (4^th) – four more to tie Dana Wertz for 3^rd
• 21 shutouts (2^nd) – eight more to tie Jackie Bishop for 1^st

New Kids on the Block
Missouri Western added 10 new players to its roster in the offseason - five freshmen and six transfers. Joining Coach Thompson from Regis are C/UTL Rachel Barriga, catcher Sydney Young and outfielder Sienna Reed.

Barriga made 42 starts for Regis last year and batted .304. Young made 49 starts as a freshman last season at Regis, batting .275 on the year. Reed started a combined 103 games in two seasons at Regis, where she had a career batting average of .275 and a career slug percentage of .426. Reed was an honorable mention all-RMAC selection at Regis last season as well.

Outfielder Ella Fitzpatrick joins MWSU from Division I Lipscomb University. Fitzpatrick had also played at Iowa Western Community College, helping the Reivers to a NJCAA World Series Appearance in 2024. In that season, Fitzpatrick had a huge impact, batting .345 with a .593 slug. She scored 49 runs on 50 hits, including eight home runs.

A couple more JUCO stars join Missouri Western in 2025. Infielder Lauren Newlin had a terrific year last year at Central Arizona College, batting .343 in 40 games. Another infielder, shortstop Ayva McComas, joins MWSU from Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, where she was an NJCAA All-American, collecting a combined 53 HRs and 159 RBIs in two seasons.

Two-Sport Stars
The Griffons added some pitching help as well, borrowing All-American thrower Makenzie Garr from MWSU Track and Field. Garr, in her sophomore year, is no stranger to softball. The St. Joseph native was an all-city and all-district pitcher for St. Joseph Central, helping the Indians to a district championship game appearance in 2022. She recorded 185 strikeouts in her senior season alone.

Missouri Western will also have Griffon soccer keeper Morgan Byrd playing infield this spring. Byrd had a terrific softball career at Papillion-La Vista High School in Nebraska, helping the Monarchs to state titles in 2020 and 2023. She earned all-state honors in 2023 as well.

Home Stretch
Missouri Western closes out the regular season this week with a non-conference doubleheader on the road and then a rivalry showdown at home for Senior Day on Saturday.

Missouri Western faces UMSL (17-22, 10-14 GLVC) Tuesday – the third consecutive opponent the Griffs will have played from the GLVC Conference.

The Griffs are 2-1 against UMSL all-time, including a pair of wins over the Tritons in the McKendree Invitational last March.

The Tritons have won five of their last six games coming in, most recently splitting with Drury at home this past Friday.

Ashley Borowitz (10-8) is their lead pitcher, striking out 101 and walking 42. Jamie Widule is their best hitter. She bats .381 with a team-leading 48 hits and 26 runs scored.

Northwest (20-25, 8-14 MIAA) is fighting to reach the MIAA tournament, as the Bearcats sit in a tie for 9^th place in the standings currently. Northwest hasn't made the MIAA tournament field since 2015.

Northwest is playing well as of late, winning their last three in a row and five of their last seven. Northwest hosts Wayne State on Tuesday at 2 and 4 p.m. before coming to St. Joseph Saturday.

Saturday marks the 138^th and 139^th all-time meetings with Northwest. The Griffons lead the series 73-64 all-time.

Northwest ranks second in the MIAA and fourth in the nation with a .977 fielding percentage. Omara Love is the top hitter with a .389 batting average. She's hit 13 doubles, five triples and two home runs on the season.

Jadyn Streigle (8-8) is the top pitcher with 61 strikeouts in 16 starts.