SMU Fastpitch Softball

RoadTo Wartburg

The Knights locked up the Iowa Conference's automatic berth into the Midwest Regional — Wartburg's first-ever national tournament appearance — with split of their regular-season ending series with Simpson. Simpson won the opening game of the decisive doubleheader 8-1, but Wartburg rebounded with a berth-clinching 6-4 win in the nightcap.

Pre-TournamentNotes

The Knights enter the regional tournament having won three of their last four games and 10 of their last 12. … Wartburg, the region's No. 1 seed, has already faced St. Thomas this season, splitting the nonconference doubleheader (6-4 loss, 5-0 win). … Wartburg's 34 wins are tops among the five regional participants. … Offensively, Wartburg is led by the bats of Emily Mangin and Amy Kueker. Mangin boasts a team-leading .414 batting average, while Kueker is hitting .393. … Alisa Steffen leads Wartburg in hits (49), while Aimee Havel's 10 doubles and Kueker's three HRs and 39 RBIs are also team highs. … Wartburg has stolen 112 bases in 124 attempts, led by Steffen (41-for-45) and Natalie Curran (29-for-31). … As a team, the Knights are hitting .326. …On the mound, the Knights boast a 1.79 ERA. … The Knights have four pitchers who have thrown more than 40 innings, led by Kelley Foley (65.1 IP, 10-0, 0.96 ERA, 47 Ks) and Stephanie Rasmuss (82.0 IP, 11-4, 2.12 ERA, 48 Ks). … Of their six losses, the Knights have dropped two at home, two on the road and two at neutral sites. … 12 of Wartburg's 34 wins have come by shutout, and the Knights have not been shut out in 42 games. … The Knights are 6-1 in one-run games, 3-3 in two-run contests and 16-1 in games decided by five or more runs. … Wartbrug's longest winning streak of the season was 12 games (the Knights opened the season with back-to-back losses, then strung together 12 straight wins), and only once all season have the Knights lost two straight. …