ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Missouri Western softball (31-20, 12-12 MIAA) begins play in the MIAA softball tournament this Wednesday in the opening round as the No. 7 seed.
 
The Griffons will face No. 10 seed Nebraska-Kearney (23-26, 9-15 MIAA) on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. from Fleharty Family Field in Hays, Kansas.

Missouri Western would face No. 2 seed Pittsburg State (37-13, 18-6 MIAA) in quarterfinals on Thursday, May 1 at 6:30 p.m. with a victory. The championship game is set for Saturday, May 3, at 12 p.m.

The tournament features the top 10 teams from the league standings, and it will be single elimination. Central Oklahoma is the No. 1 overall seed as the MIAA regular season champion.

A Little History
Missouri Western has never missed an MIAA softball tournament with the first one being played in 2001. The Griffons look to get back to the MIAA championship game for the first time since 2019.
 
Missouri Western owns MIAA tournament championships in 2014 and 2016.

Tournament Schedule
Opening Round - Wednesday, April 30
Game 1 | 3 p.m. | No. 8 Emporia State vs. No. 9 Fort Hays State
Game 2 | 5:30 p.m. | No. 7 Missouri Western vs. No. 10 Nebraska Kearney

Quarterfinals - Thursday, May 1
Game 3 | 11 a.m. | No. 1 Central Oklahoma vs. Winner of Game 1
Game 4 | 1:30 p.m. | No. 4 Missouri Southern vs. No. 5 Central Missouri
Game 5 | 4 p.m. | No. 3 Rogers State vs. No. 6 Washburn
Game 6 | 6:30 p.m. | No. 2 Pittsburg State vs. Winner of Game 2

Semifinals - Friday, May 2
Game 7 | 12 p.m. | Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4
Game 8 | 2:30 p.m. | Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6

Championship Game - Saturday, May 3
Game 9 | 12 p.m. | Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8

Last Time Out
Missouri Western split a doubleheader with Northwest Missouri State Saturday, winning the first game 4-2 and losing the second 4-0 at the MWSU Spring Sports Complex.

The Griffons also honored seniors Sydney Rader, Mackenzie DeVine, Bubba Hoelscher, Kennedy Preston, Kate Voisin and Taylor Jones at the conclusion of the games.

Game 1: Missouri Western 4 Northwest Missouri State 2
Sydney Rader's (20-9) last career start in a home game ended fittingly with a complete game victory, as she struck out four over seven innings.

After Western got down 2-0 in the top of the third, the Griffons answered with three runs in the bottom of the third, thanks to RBIs by Sienna Reed, Taylor Jones and Mackenzie DeVine.

Jones then walked in a run in the fourth. She finished with two RBIs. Ashlyn Finarty doubled and scored.

Game 3: Northwest Missouri State 4 Missouri Western 0
The Bearcats ended what was a 10-game winning streak for the Griffons behind a complete game shutout from starting pitcher Jadyn Streigle, who limited the Griffons to three hits and struck out five batters.

Harley Pruetting (8-6) made the start and took the loss in 4.2 innings. She struck out five and was charged with two earned runs.

Ashlyn Finarty tossed the last 2.1 innings. She struck out one and allowed an earned run as well.
 
Gold Glovers
Missouri Western pitcher and senior Sydney Rader received first-team All-MIAA honors and a Gold Glove award, while senior outfielder Taylor Jones was also recognized as an MIAA Gold Glove recipient, as the MIAA released its all-conference softball honors Tuesday.
 
Rader (8-6 vs. MIAA, 20-9 overall) earned her fourth career All-MIAA honor and her first, first-team nod, following an outstanding senior season in the circle. Against MIAA opponents, Rader achieved a 2.17 ERA, tallying 68 strikeouts (5th MIAA) over 84.0 innings pitched (1st MIAA).
 
Rader's 18 strikeouts looking and eight wins in MIAA play are both the second most amongst all pitchers in the league.
 
Jones earned her first MIAA award with a Gold Glove following a stout season in center field. Jones recorded a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000, committing no errors in 46 chances. She concluded conference play with 43 putouts and three assists.

Thompson Time
Head coach Nicole Thompson is in her first season as the seventh head coach in Missouri Western softball 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 the 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.

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 returned 11 players from a 2024 team that went 31-20 overall and 13-13 in the MIAA.

The Griffons returned 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 a two-time all-MIAA selection, picking up honorable mention honors last season.

In the circle, the Griffons returned now four-time all-MIAA senior Sydney Rader, who earned honorable mention all-conference accolades in 2024. 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 (20), complete games (25), innings pitched (181.0), strikeouts (171), complete game shutouts (8) and ERA (1.66).
 
Nationally, Rader's eight shutouts are tied for fifth most among all pitchers in NCAA Division II, her 25 complete games are tied for second most in the nation, the 181.0 innings pitched are 11^th most and her 20 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 this week, Rader ranks in the top five in program history in each of the following:

• 2.16 ERA (2^nd)
• 66 Ws (3^rd)
• 125 appearances (3^rd)
• 102 games started (4^th) – two more to tie Dana Wurtz for 3^rd
• 653.2 IP (4^th)
• 615 K (2^nd)
• 2782 batters faced (4^th)
• .229 career opponent batting average (3^rd)
• 68 complete games (4^th) – two more to tie Dana Wertz for 3^rd
• 22 shutouts (2^nd) – seven 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.

Loper Outlook
Nebraska-Kearney is back in the MIAA tournament for the first time since 2022 after splitting at Fort Hays State this past Saturday to secure the final spot in the field.

The Lopers have lost five of their last six games coming in. They were also swept by the Griffons in Kearney back on March 10, 5-2 and 2-1 (8).

UNK is the only MIAA team Missouri Western swept on the road during the regular season.

Junior shortstop Mary Chvatal represents the Lopers on the all-MIAA softball team, repeating as an honorable mention pick.

One of three Lopers to start all 49 regular season games, UNK's leadoff hitter enters Wednesday's tournament with a batting average of .375 with three triples, 12 doubles, 10 RBIs and 41 runs scored.

She leads UNK in seven offensive categories, including average, walks drawn (35), stolen bases (15) and on-base percentage (.497).

Chvatal also has a team-best 102 assists in the field with her career total (294) ranking eighth in school history.

In the circle, Jerzie Schindler (6-10) is the top threat, striking out 39 over 93.1 innings. She owns a save, a shutout and five complete games on the season.

As a team, UNK leads the MIAA with 71 errors committed.