The Linfield softball team heads to Wisconsin, to compete in the Eau Claire Regional of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats are the No. 3 seed at the six-team regional, hosted at Bollinger Fields on the campus of Wisconsin-Eau Claire this weekend.
 
THE BRACKET
Joining Linfield in Eau Claire is the top-seed Wisconsin-Oshkosh, No. 2 seed Alfred (New York), fourth-seeded Southern Maine, No. 5 seed Piedmont (Georgia) and Illinois College is the sixth seed.
 
The Wildcats square off against the Huskies Friday at 12 noon PDT in one opening-round game of the double-elimination tournament. The winner advances into the winners bracket of the regional where they'll play the Alfred/Piedmont winner Saturday at 10 a.m. PDT. The loser plays the UW-Oshkosh/Illinois College winner Saturday at 8 a.m. PDT
 
The winner of this weekend's regional joins the seven other regional winners in advancing to the NCAA Finals in Salem, Virginia, May 27-June 1.
 
COVERAGE
UW-Eau Claire will provide live video webcasts and live statistics for all tournament games.  
 
SWEET 16
This is the 16^th season that the Wildcats have advanced to the NCAA postseason and all 16 trips have come during the last 18 years, which includes the 2020 season in which the national playoff tournament was cancelled to due COVID-19.
 
This is the second trip to Eau Claire for Linfield, which finished as the national runner-up at the 2010 NCAA Finals, hosted by Eau Claire.
 
THE WILDCATS

• Linfield enters the regional round of the NCAA Tournament with a 36-7 record. Under 20^th-year coach Jackson Vaughan, the Wildcats swept through the Northwest Conference Tournament to receive the conference's automatic bid.
• The Wildcats have hit 42 home runs this season against other NCAA Division III teams, which ranks fourth in Division III. Linfield has also hit 87 doubles to rank seventh nationally.
• The pitching staff has an ERA of 3.09 and has struck out 201 batters.
• Kamryn Mobley has hit seven home runs, while Katie Phillips, Katrina Johns, Abi Proffitt and Emma Podliska have six each. Proffitt leads the team with 42 RBIs, Phillips and Baily Paul are tied for second with 38.
• Phillips leads the team with a .400 batting average, Kelsey Wilkinson is batting .392 on the season, and Kamryn Apling owns a .389 batting average. Wilkinson has stolen 32 bases while Apling has swiped 27.
• Sophomore righthander Tayah Kelley has appeared in 24 games this year, starting 23. She is 17-4 on the season with a 4.47 ERA, 134 strikeouts and 17 complete games. Maddy Podnar has made 18 starts while posting an ERA of 3.30 with 78 strikeouts and a record of 13-3.

 
THE TITANS

• Wisconsin-Oshkosh is the top-seed in the bracket and has a record of 24-11 in 2021 under the leadership of eighth-year coach Scott Beyer. The Titans received the automatic berth into the NCAA regional by winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
• The Titans are headed to the national tournament for the ninth time in program history and third in the last five years. Should they play the Wildcats this weekend, it would be the first documented meeting between the two teams. 
• The team has a batting average of .320, with 11 home runs and 61 doubles. The pitching staff has registered seven shutouts, which ranks among the top-50 nationally. Combined, the Titans have a team ERA of 3.66.
• Freshman Hannah Ritter leads the team with a .475 batting average, senior Natalie Dudek is batting .321. Four of UWO's 11 home runs for the team have come off the bat of Morgan Rau, a junior. The Titans' RBIs leader is junior Kailee Garstecki with 21.
• Maddie Fink made 22 appearances in the circle for the Titans, starting 16. She is 15-3 on the season with an ERA of 2.43, 85 strikeouts in 115.1 innings pitched. Mia Crotty has made the second-most starts on the team with 11 while appearing in 15 contests. Crotty is 4-3 on the season with an ERA of 5.04 and 35 strikeouts.

 
THE SAXONS

• Alfred received the Empire 8 Conference's automatic berth. The Saxons are 31-9 this spring and won the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed under sixth-year coach Luke Wesneski.
• The Saxons are going to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time since 1994. Alfred fell to Linfield by a score of 8-0 at the 2015 NCAA Finals in the only documented meeting between the two teams.
• As a team, Alfred had piled up 382 hits this season, which is ninth nationally. The Saxons stand seventh in the nation with 110 stolen bases. They have hit 14 home runs as a team.
• The Saxons are 17^th in NCAA Division III with 11 shutouts. The pitching staff's ERA of 2.06 is 30^th. Jessica Wilcox has seven shutouts on the season, which is sixth nationally. She has an ERA of 1.32. Wilcox has punched out 238 batters this year, which is second nationally.
• Megan Bennett has 16 appearances on the season while Arden Hatch has 15. The two have ERAs of 2.71 and 3.22 respectively.
• Ashley Lugo is second on the team with a batting average of .406 and second nationally with 49 steals. Alyssa Guitron leads the team with a .409 batting average. Mya Wells has team-leading 34 RBIs, Guitron has 29.

 
THE HUSKIES

• Southern Maine received one of the seven at-large bids this year. It holds a record of 31-4-1 this year. The Huskies advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history and first time under ninth-year coach Sarah Jamo.
• The Huskies won the Little East Conference regular season championship and their matchup against the Wildcats on Friday will be the first documented meeting between the two teams.
• Southern Maine is 30^th nationally with a batting average of .359, 10^th with 82 doubles and 11^th with 376 hits. The team has an ERA of 2.34.
• Ashley Tinsman leads the offense with a .446 average. She has 49 RBIs, which is seventh nationally, along with seven home runs. Alexis Brown has a batting average of .358, 30 RBIs and two home runs. Samantha Hauck has hit five home runs and driven home 26 runs.
• The Huskies' ace this season has been Kirsten Pelletier, who has made 18 appearances, including 15 starts. She has an ERA of 2.50 with 85 strikeouts and is 13-1 on the season. Alexis Brown is 11-2 in 14 appearances, including 13 starts with an ERA of 2.37 and 64 punch outs.

 
THE LADY LIONS

• Piedmont is 22-11 on the season and received the USA South Conference's automatic bid by winning the conference tournament under 16^th year coach Terry Martin.
• The Lady Lions reached the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season and are making their eighth regional appearance since joining NCAA Division III in 2004. The Lady Lions and the Wildcats met last season in Tuscon, Arizona, at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in the teams' only documented meeting. Piedmont won 10-6.
• Katelyn Perry leads the team in all three triple-crown statistical categories, batting .432 with four home runs and 35 RBIs. The Lady Lions have a batting average of .308 as a team with nine home runs. They have hit 18 triples, which is top-10 nationally.
• Mackenzie Davis has a batting average of .357 with 12 RBIs. Kara Taylor has 19 RBIs on a batting average of .337.
• The team ERA of 1.59 is eighth in NCAA Division III. Emma McBrayer had made 20 appearances with 14 starts, posting an ERA of 1.24 with 41 strikeouts. Martina Maloch has an ERA of 1.63 in 19 appearances with 16 starts and 63 strikeouts.

 
THE LADY BLUES

• For the first time in program history, Illinois College won the Midwest Conference championship to claim the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
• The Lady Blues are 25-12 under ninth-year coach Meghan Roman. They have no documented meetings against the Wildcats.
• Madisyn Webster is batting .451 with 13 RBIs. Jessica Belzer has 21 RBIs on a batting average of .422. Maddy Morgan has 18 RBIs and batting .333. As a team, the Lady Blues are batting .296 with eight home runs.
• The pitching staff has 13 shutouts this year, which is eighth. The Lady Blues have a team ERA of 2.15. Sydney Hood has an ERA of 1.29 with 99 strikeouts on 18 appearances and 17 starts. Alissa Hodge has started 15 games and pitched in 16 games. She has an ERA of 2.22.