INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The UW-Stevens Point softball team (28-12) is headed to its second-straight NCAA Tournament and will face Central (26-11) on Thursday (May 15) in the opening game of the Oshkosh Regional. UWSP will play game two of the regional scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.
 
NCAA Bracket
 
This will be just the second time in program history that the Pointers will make consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament with the only other time being the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
 
The Pointers reached the WIAC Tournament semifinals after a quarterfinal win over UW-Eau Claire last week. In that win, UWSP set a single season program record in team stolen bases surpassing the previous school record of 111.
 
Senior Rachel Baker (Richmond, Ill./Richmond-Burton Community) leads the team in steals with 20, just three shy of tying the single season record. Fellow senior Jesse Klicker (Spring Grove, Ill/Richmond-Burton Community) is tied for the career record in stolen bases with 58.
 
Klicker also leads the team in hitting at .354. She has a team-high five home runs and with her three triples this season, she broke the career program record in three-baggers.
 
In the circle, Morgan Harwood (Neenah, Wis./Neenah) holds a 15-4 record with a 1.39 ERA. She leads the conference in appearances at 36, one shy of the school record set by teammate Ashley Zygowski (Saukville, Wis./Port Washington) last season. Harwood is tied for the conference lead with 15 wins and has a league-high 152 strikeouts this season.
 
Zygowski leads the nation in saves with nine, the second-straight year she has paced the country in the category. She is third among league pitchers with 95 strikeouts on the year.
 
Central was the runner-up in the A-R-C Tournament after entering as the No. 5 seed. The Dutch are led by Haley Bach, who is fourth in the A-R-C with a .449 season average. Central is fifth in the nation with 144 stolen bases. The Dutch pitching staff has s team ERA of 4.13 this season.
 
The Pointers will face a familiar foe in the second round on Friday (May 16) in either league rival UW-Oshkosh (36-6) or Concordia University Wisconsin (31-11) coached by former UWSP assistant coach Megan Aliverti.