CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The 2022 American Rivers Conference Softball Tournament will be held Friday-Saturday, May 6-7 at Buena Vista University and the Storm Lake Community School District softball field located at the Storm Lake High School campus in Storm Lake, Iowa. The Beavers earned the No. 1 seed and the right to host after claiming a share of the 2022 A-R-C regular season conference championship. 
 
The No.1 seeded Beavers and No. 2 seeded Spartans will receive the first-round byes. First-round games will feature the No. 4 seed Wartburg vs. No. 5 seed Luther at 2:00 p.m. with the winner drawing the No.1 seed in the semifinals. The late first-round game features the No. 3 seed Coe vs. No. 6 seed Nebraska Wesleyan at 4:30 p.m., with the winner moving on to face the No. 2 seed.
 
Buena Vista enters the tournament with 26-12 record and 10-6 in the A-R-C. After the regular season, the Beavers sit third in the conference in batting average (.308) and their leading batter Nataliah Murillo (So., Florence, Ariz./Poston Butte) averaged .481 with 25 hits with 52 at bats in conference play. As a team, they collected 136 hits and 199 total bases which both sit third in the conference. The team held a 3.06 ERA over their 16 conference games which sits second in the conference. The Beavers defense was charged by Ashtyn Miller (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central) who recorded 57 strikeouts and held a 2.88 ERA.
 
The Spartans are entering the tournament with 24-8 overall record and 10-6 in the A-R-C. Dubuque also claimed a share of their first conference title in program history and secured the No. 2 spot in the tournament. During the regular season, the Spartans were propelled by Emily Bloomer (Sr., Burlington, Iowa/Burlington) and Callie Dutton (Sr., Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield East). The duo rank No. 3/4 in the conference hitting .447 and .415 in conference play. As a team, the Spartans had a .319 batting average with 139 hits in 436 at bats. In the circle, Megan Wolff (Fr., Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) was among the top-ten with a 3.22 ERA. 
 
At the No. 3 seed, the Coe College Kohawks will face No. 6 seed Nebraska Wesleyan. The Kohawks put together a 9-7 conference season and 22-12 overall. To finish the conference regular season, Coe had a .274 batting average with 115 hits in 419 at bats. Heather Boeckenstedt (Jr., Edgewood, Iowa/Beckman) led the Kohawks offense during league play with a .405 batting average, recording 17 hits in 42 at bats. Additionally, Abbie White (Fr., West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) took charge of the defense for the Kohawks with a 2.71 ERA. The Kohawks brought home the win in five of White’s six complete games.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan (20-13, 8-8 A-R-C) clinched a spot in the tournament at the No. 6 seed after winning game one 5-1 versus Loras on May 1, 2022. With that win, the Prairie Wolves posted their first 20-win season for the first time since 2019. In game one, Kailey Meyer (Sr., Omaha, Neb./Omaha Central) registered eight strikeouts to bring her total to 41 on the year and she finished the regular season with a 2.82 ERA. The Prairie Wolves leading batter, Paige Davison (Fr., Omaha, Neb./Omaha Burke) held a .327 batting average with 17 hits in 52 at bats. 
 
Wartburg College (24-12, 9-7 A-R-C), the No. 4 seed, will face No. 5 seed Luther College (21-13, 8-8 A-R-C) on Friday. Earlier this year, the Knights swept the Norse 2-0 (3-2 7-innings, 6-5) for the first time since 2008. Wartburg finds themselves among the top of many A-R-C stat lists this year, but they are highlighted by a trio of Knights who rank No. 7/8/9 in the conference batting average. Led by Sydney Illg (Sr., Grimes, Iowa/Johnston), the senior hit .404 and was followed by Tarah Wehde (So., Clinton, Iowa/Camanche) and Olivia Brecht (Sr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Center Point-Urbana) who both held a .400 BA.
 
The Norse finished the regular season with a series sweep (4-0, 9-2) over Simpson College to bring them to .500 in conference play. Kendra Cooper (Sr., Lansing, Iowa/Kee) and the Norse pitching staff both led the conference with a 2.52 and 2.90 ERA, respectively. Sam Thompson (Jr,.West Salem, Wis./West Salem) also made her way into the top-ten with an ERA of 3.10. The leading hitter for the Norse is senior outfielder, Emily Fell (Sr., Rice Lake, Wis./Rice Lake), holding a .326 batting average in league play.
 
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 9. The regional round takes place Friday-Sunday, May 13-15 (regionals that include a team with a no-Sunday play policy will be conducted Thursday-Saturday). Winners of the regionals will advance to the super regionals Friday and Saturday, May 20-21. This year's NCAA Division III Championship will take place Thursday-Tuesday, May 26-31 at Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Virginia.
 
 
2022 AMERICAN RIVERS CONFERENCE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Schedule of Games
Friday, May 6
Game 1 - 2:00 PM #4 Wartburg vs #5 Luther
Game 2 - 4:30 PM #3 Coe vs #6 Nebraska Wesleyan

Saturday, May 7
Game 3 - 11:00 AM #1 Buena Vista vs Winner of #4/5
Game 4 - 1:30 PM #2 Dubuque vs Winner of #3/6
Game 5 - 4:00 PM Game 3 Winner vs Game 4 Winner
(Sunday, May 8 is the rain date.)