WAVERLY, Iowa --- No. 23 softball will begin postseason play on Saturday, May 9 as the Knights host the single elimination American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) tournament at Lynes Field on both Friday and Saturday, May 8-9.
 
As the top overall seed and regular season champions, Wartburg has earned a first-round bye to the semifinals on Saturday, May 8 at 11 a.m. against the Winner of No. 4 seeded Loras and No. 5 seeded Central. The winner of the tournament will receive the American Rivers Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Softball Championship. The NCAA selection will announce AQ and at-large qualifiers, along with regional sites selected for the Championship on Monday, May 11. 
 
The Knights are seeking their first A-R-C tournament title since winning back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023.
 
Tournament Schedule – Live Stream | Live Stats (all games)
Friday, May 8
Game 1 - 2:00 p.m. - No. 4 Loras vs. No. 5 Central
Game 2 - 4:30 p.m. - No. 3 Luther vs. No. 6 Coe

Saturday, May 9
Game 3 - 11:00 a.m. - No. 1 Wartburg vs. Winner of Game 1
Game 4 - 1:30 p.m. - No. 2 Simpson vs. Winner of Game 2
Game 5 - 4:00 p.m. - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winners
*If needed, Sunday will be used as a rain date. 
 
Opponent History

• Possible Semifinal Opponent for Wartburg
  • Loras
    • The Knights swept the regular season series (7-3, 6-2)
    • Wartburg is 2-0 in A-R-C tournament matchups against the Duhawks since 2006
  • Central
    • Wartburg swept the regular season meetings (10-4, 5-4)
    • Central leads the all-time series 64-32
      • The Dutch are 2-0 in A-R-C tournament meetings against Wartburg since 2006

 
A-R-C Tournament History

• Wartburg has won five A-R-C tournament titles
  • 2006, 2007, 2008, 2022, 2023
• This is the sixth time in program history Wartburg has hosted the tournament
  • Third time since 2006
• A-R-C Championships by school:
  • Luther – eight
  • Wartburg/Central – five each
  • Coe – two
  • Buena Vista/Nebraska Wesleyan – one each
• Wartburg is 19-9 in A-R-C tournament games since 2006
• The host school has not won the tournament since 2019 (Central)
  • Wartburg has won as the host school (2008)

 
Updating the Record Books

• New team record for walks in a season
  • 137 walks (previous record 134, 2022)
• New team record for steals in a season
  • 165 steals (previous record 162, 2022)
• Individual steals in a career
  • Reagan Hassel has 68 career stolen bases (fifth all time)
  • 56 for Ally Happ (seventh all time, trails sixth by one)
  • 52 career stolen bases for Carley Bredar (eighth all time)
• Individual steals in a season
  • Hassel is tied for sixth with 31 stolen bases this season
  • Bredar is tied for ninth with 27
• Individual hits in a season
  • Hassel is tied with two others for ninth most hits in a season in program history (56)
• Individual doubles in a season
  • Bella Mulder is tied for sixth with 13
  • Hassel is tied for eighth with 12

 
In the Polls

• The Knights are currently No. 14 in the NPI rankings (through 5/5) – full poll here
  • Simpson: No. 8
  • Central: No. 35
  • Loras: No. 52
  • Coe: No. 83
  • Luther: No. 116
• Wartburg is currently No. 23 in the NFCA Top 25 poll
  • Simpson is ranked No. 10

 
Wartburg

• The Knights enter postseason play with an overall record of 31-9
  • Wartburg has won 14 of its last 15 games
  • Finished conference play with a record of 14-2
• Six Knights have recorded 20+ RBI this season:
  • Mulder (41), Jenna Wiebenga (41), Hassel (39), Addy Wells (26), Alexis Larson (26) and Bredar (24)
    • Mulder (fourth), Wiebenga (fourth) and Hassel (sixth) are top six in the A-R-C in RBI
  • Wartburg ranks eighth in Division III in RBI and ninth in RBI per game
• Wartburg is averaging 7.87 runs per game this season and 9.47 hits per game
  • Leads the A-R-C in total runs (315) and in runs per game
  • 28-3 record this season when scoring five or more runs in a game this season
    • 3-6 when scoring four or less runs
• In the circle, two first-year Knights lead the team in wins with Hannah Hoefer at 13-3 and Katelyn Klever at 12-4
  • Tied for third and sixth individually for wins in the A-R-C
  • Jillian Panther (3-1) and Lauren Dyer (3-1) each have added multiple wins
  • Hoefer (two), Klever (one) and Dyer (one) make up Wartburg's four saves this season
• Wartburg is 165/178 in stolen base attempts through 40 games played
  • The Knights are seventh overall in Division III in total stolen bases and in stolen bases per game
  • Hassel (31), Bredar (27), Happ (25), and Liz Kruckenberg (23) lead the team
  • New single-season team record for steals at Wartburg (165 and counting)
• Leaders by category: Total hits – Hassel (56), 2B – Mulder (13), 3B – Larson and Kruckenberg (three), HR – Mulder (seven)
• Defensively, Wartburg has turned 19 double plays this season, which ranks 11^th in all of Division III
• Seven different Knights enter A-R-C play with a batting average over .300 and one player over .400
  • Bredar leads the team individually (.408) and ranks fifth in the A-R-C
• Seven different players have recorded four or more RBI in a game this season (Stephanie Kiefer, Hassel, Wiebenga, Larson, Mulder, Wells and Klever) and three different players have recorded four hits in a game this season (Hassel, Klever and Wiebenga)
  • Both Mulder and Wiebenga have recorded five or more RBI in a game this season
    • Wiebenga has four games this season with four or more RBI
  • Hassel has two four-hit games this season
• Hoefer (60) and Klever (54) lead the team in batters struck out
  • Have nine complete games between them
• Panther leads the Wartburg pitching staff with an ERA of 1.80 through 23.1 innings pitched
  • Klever leads starting pitchers with an ERA of 3.89 over 90 innings pitched
• The Knights have recorded eight or more hits 26 total times this season
  • 21-5 record in those games
• Wartburg has recorded at least one extra-base hit in 38/40 games this season
  • Second in the A-R-C in total extra-base hits