Morningside will face Doane in the best two-of-three GPAC Softball Tournament Championship Series on Saturday at the Elizabeth and Irving F. Jensen Softball Complex.

Great Plains Athletic Conference Softball Post-Season
Tournament Championship Series
Saturday, May 7
At Sioux City, IA

Morningside College (42-8) vs. Doane College (32-12)
Game 1 – 11 a.m.

Game 2 – 1 p.m.

Game 3 (if necessary) – 5 p.m.

Live Stats Link

Video Link
 

Morningside Head Coach Jessica Jones-Sitzmann
Jessica Jones-Sitzmann, a 1993 graduate of South Dakota State University, is in her 18th season as the Mustangs’ head coach. Jones-Sitzmann is the winningest coach in Morningside history with a 608-335 career record for a .645 winning percentage. She has led Morningside to six GPAC regular season championships, six GPAC Post-Season Tournament championships, and six NAIA National Tournament appearances. Jones-Sitzmann has led the Mustangs to 12 30-win seasons since 2003 and earned GPAC Coach of the Year honors in 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2014 after she led the Mustangs to GPAC regular season titles. She was a NCAA Division II All-America pitcher during her collegiate career and a first-team all-stater as a prep senior at Sioux City East High School.
 

Morningside Probable Starters (42-8 Record)
1B- Moriah Bohlmann, Jr., Denison, IA, .218, 0 HR, 7 RBI

2B- Emilee Dorpinghaus, Jr., Ankeny, IA, .321, 1 HR, 26 RBI

SS- Rachel Koch, Jr., Denison, IA, .366, 5 HR, 38 RBI or

Mara Amsberry, So., Bennington, NE, .234, 2 HR, 8 RBI

3B- Abby Conner, So., McCook Lake, SD, .368, 12 HR, 49 RBI

RF- Anna Milone, Sr., Omaha, NE, .324, 4 HR, 23 RBI

CF- McKenzie Anderson, Jr., Lincoln, NE, .327, 1 HR, 29 RBI

LF- Morgan Fogelman, Jr., Elkhorn, NE, .258, 4 HR, 35 RBI

C- Elin Landgren, Jr., Des Moines, IA, .340, 2 HR, 18 RBI

DH- Allie Martinez, Jr., Council Bluffs, IA, .292, 5 HR, 37 RBI

P- Aubrey Voboril, Sr., Wahoo, NE, 18-2, 1.60 ERA, 125 K or

Rachel Henks, Jr., Lee’s Summit, MO, 20-4, 1.67 ERA, 165 K
 

Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Final Standings
1.Morningside, 18-3; 2.Doane, 17-4; 3.Dakota Wesleyan, 15-7; 4.Hastings, 12-10; 5.Concordia and Dordt, 10-10; 7.Midland and Nebraska Wesleyan, 10-12; 9.Northwestern, 8-14; 10.College of Saint Mary, 7-15; 11.Briar Cliff and Mount Marty, 6-16.
 

Mustangs Ranked 15th In The Nation
Morningside was ranked 15th in the May 3 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll.

1.Oklahoma City, 54-1 record, 436 points; 2.Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), 48-5, 420; 3.St. Gregory’s (Okla.), 39-5, 405; 4.Campbellsville (Ky.), 48-8, 398; 5.Saint Xavier (Ill.), 35-5-1, 373; 6.Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), 44-12, 365; 7.Simpson (Calif.), 40-4, 356; 8.William Carey (Miss.), 36-15, 341; 9.LSU Alexandria, 43-10, 316; 10.Southeastern (Fla.), 38-12, 300; 11.Georgia Gwinnett, 39-15, 295; 12.Martin Methodist (Tenn.), 45-14, 288; 13.Davenport (Mich.), 35-10, 256; 14.Reinhardt (Ga.), 41-10, 253; 15.Morningside (Iowa), 38-7, 248; 16.Dickinson State (N.D.), 40-9, 220; 17.Marian (Ind.), 39-8, 210; 18.Houston-Victoria (Texas), 35-11, 192; 19.Arizona Christian, 37-14-1, 182; 20.Southern Oregon, 34-14, 169; 21.Central Methodist (Mo.), 38-14, 147; 22.Rio Grande (Ohio), 40-7, 145; 23.Oregon Tech, 27-18, 138; 24.Park (Mo.), 29-13-1, 101; 25.Friends (Kan.), 32-10, 100.
 

Last Time Out
The Mustangs won the Morningside Bracket of the GPAC Post-Season Tournament with a 3-1 victory against Hastings when Abby Conner broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Rachel Henks pitched a four-hitter with two walks and eight strikeouts for her 20th win of the season.
 

Who’s Hot

Elin Landgren, a junior catcher from Des Moines, Iowa, is riding a seven-game hitting streak. Landgren has nine hits in 22 at-bats for a .409 batting average during her hitting streak.

Abby Conner, a sophomore third baseman from McCook Lake, S.D., has 10 hits in 22 at-bats for a .455 batting average with five home runs, two triples, and 13 RBIs over the last seven games. Conner has hit safely in 14 of the last 17 games.

Rachel Henks, a junior pitcher from Lee’s Summit, Mo., is 8-1 with five shutouts and two saves over her last 11 outings. Henks has a 0.38 earned run average and has allowed only three runs and 25 hits and has struck out 58 batters in 55 innings during that stretch.

Aubrey Voboril, a senior pitcher from Wahoo, Neb., has won 13 consecutive decisions, including five by shutout, while pitching to a 1.59 earned run average over her last 17 appearances.
 

Mustang Notes

Morningside defeated Doane 6-1 on April 25 in Sioux City in the only regular season meeting between the two teams en route to winning the GPAC regular season championship with an 18-3 record. . .The Mustangs are 29-3 over their last 32 games to climb to 42-8 for the season. The Mustangs will make their seventh NAIA National Tournament appearance in the last eight years when they host the NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round Morningside Bracket on May 16-18. . .Aubrey Voboril, a senior pitcher from Wahoo, Neb., was named the GPAC Pitcher of the Week for April 25 to May 1 after she pitched an abbreviated five-inning perfect game with eight strikeouts in a 9-0 victory against Dordt College on April 25. . .Rachel Henks, a junior pitcher from Lee’s Summit, Mo., has allowed only one run in 32.2 innings for a 0.21 earned run average over her last seven appearances. Henks is 20-4 with a 1.67 ERA and a team-high five saves to put her one off the school-record six saves by Melissa Hansen in 2001. . .Abby Conner, a sophomore third baseman from McCook Lake, S.D., currently has a Morningside Triple Crown with a .368 batting average, 12 home runs, and 49 RBIs. Her 12 home runs are two shy of the Morningside single-season record of 14 first set by Mindi Prince in 1996 and matched by Erin Bohlmann and Kirsten Dargy in 2011.  . .Elin Landgren, a junior catcher from Des Moines, Iowa, is hitting .340 with a team-high 51 runs scored and a .464 on-base percentage. She is six shy of the Morningside record of 57 runs scored by Kim Kadolph in 1994.
 

Up Next
Both teams will advance to the 2016 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round to be held May 16-18 at various campus sites. Morningside will compete as the host team in the Morningside Bracket.