ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley softball team will look to earn the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament this week by winning the conference tournament that will be played at the LVC Softball Park.
 
The Dutchmen will serve as host of the conference tournament for the second consecutive year after winning the program's third consecutive regular season title. Ticket prices are set by the conference office and are as follows:
Adults - $8
Seniors (65+) - $6
Youth (7-17) - $6
MAC Students w/ ID - Free
6 and under w/ adult – Free
*The LVC Softball Park is a cash only facility. No cards or digital payment will be accepted.
 
The schedule for the weekend is listed below.
Game 1 (May 2 at 1 PM): No. 3 DeSales vs. No. 2 Misericordia (H)
Game 2 (May 2 at 3:30 PM): No. 4 FDU-Florham vs. No. 1 Lebanon Valley (H)

Game 3 (May 3 at 12 PM): G1 Winner vs G2 Winner
Game 4 (May 3 at 2 PM): G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser
Game 5 (May 3 at 4 PM): G3 Loser vs. G4 Winner

Game 6 (May 4 at 1 PM): G3 Winner vs. G5 Winner
Game 7 (May 4 at 3 PM): If Necessary Game
 
LVC enters the weekend with a 30-8 overall record and 12-2 mark in conference play and played one of the toughest schedules in the nation this year. Their opponent winning percentage is currently 15th in Division III which gives LVC a strong resume builder for a possible NCAA selection. The Dutchmen played all three teams that qualified for the Tournament in three consecutive series from March 26-April 7 winning five of six games. They started the run with a sweep at DeSales winning by scores of 1-0 and 5-2. Three days later they were back on the road where they swept FDU-Florham by scores of 7-2 and 7-0. Misericordia handed LVC their first conference defeat in Annville in game one of their doubleheader by a score of 2-1 before the Dutchmen took game two 5-4.
 
The Dutchmen will face fourth-seeded FDU-Florham on Thursday in the second game of the afternoon. Second-seeded Misericordia will take on third-seeded DeSales in the other game of the first day. The Cougars swept DSU in Dallas by scores of 4-0 and 9-1 on April 20 and then swept the Devils four days later 6-0 and 11-4. DeSales swept FDU-Florham 10-0 and 9-5 in Madison on April 6.
 
Megan Heard has led the offense with a .402 batting average on 39 hits including four doubles and two triples. The shortstop has been named the Player of the Week in the conference each of the past two weeks. She has scored 23 times and knocked in 12 runs while going 15-16 on stolen base attempts. Lexi Smith is batting .345 with a team-leading 40 hits including one double. She has knocked in six runs and scored 18 times while stealing 27 bases on 29 attempts. Lindsey McCurdy is batting .321 and led the conference with a .511 average in conference games. She has 36 hits including four doubles, six triples, and two home runs with 22 runs scored and 20 runs batted in. Erin Pattillo has a .318 average with 21 hits including six doubles. She has driven in eight and scored 15 times while going 14-15 on stolen base attempts.
 
Sam Burns is hitting .302 with 38 hits including seven doubles and four triples and 20 runs batted in. She is a threat on the base paths with 28 steals on 30 attempts while scoring 25 runs. Nicole Kratz is also batting .302 with 26 hits including nine doubles and a home run. She had knocked in 17 runs and scored seven times. Julia Craig has come up with big hit after big hit for the Dutchmen this year and leads the team with 24 runs batted in. She is hitting .281 with 36 hits including nine doubles and a triple. Katie Muller has a .267 average on 24 hits including four doubles and a triple in her rookie year. She has scored 11 times and knocked in nine.
 
Nikki Sellers has played in 22 games and leads the team with a .475 average. She has 19 hits including two doubles and has scored five times with eight runs batted in. Danni Holmes and Maddy Gronback have split time behind the plate with Holmes hitting .296 and Gronback batting .259. Holmes has four doubles and a triple while knocking in 11 runs. Gronback has seven doubles, six runs scored, and five runs batted in. Catherine Stone and Erin Field have seen a lot of action off the bench, mostly as pinch runners. Stone has scored nine runs and is 3-5 on stolen base attempts while Field has scored 100 times and is 2-2 on stolen bases. LVC has also received significant production from Emily Mitchell and Mackenzie Willey off the bench. Mitchell has a .294 average in 11 games while Willey is batting .278 in 16 games.
 
In the circle, LVC has two of the best pitchers in the conference and the best staff in Jordan Walter and Erin Sinatra. The Dutchmen led the league in conference play with a 1.15 earned run average, 75 strikeouts, and .241 opposing batting average. Walter is 17-5 this year with a 1.63 ERA pitching 133 innings. She has 78 strikeouts and five shutouts with one save. She had a conference-leading seven conference wins. Sinatra has been just as impressive with a 13-2 record and 1.73 ERA. She has struck out 122 batters in 113.1 innings of work while pitching three shutouts. She is second in the conference with 43 strikeouts in conference games.

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