Tournament Homepage
 
The Grand Valley State softball team is set to travel to Aurora, Ill. for the annual Lewis Dome Tournament, hosted by Lewis University this weekend (Feb. 23-24) in their second weekend of the 2018 season. The Lakers will play four games at the two-day tournament, all of which will count towards their all-important regional record. On Friday, the Lakers will take on #19 Winona State at 2:30 PM before facing Lewis at 4:30 PM. GVSU will have Saturday morning to rest up as they aren't set to face Illinois Springfield until 4:30 PM before taking on Missouri S&T at 7:00 PM in their final game of the tournament.
 
The Lakers had a tough start to their season, as they dropped a pair of games in a doubleheader against McKendree in Lebanon, Ill. by scores of 4-2 and 12-5. In the first game of the twin bill, junior Allison Lipovsky picked up right where she left off last season, as the reigning GLIAC Pitcher of the Year struck out 15 Bearcats while issuing just two walks and five hits. Unfortunately for Lipovsky, one of the five hits she surrendered was a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning, which turned out to be the game winning hit. The Lakers got out to an early 2-0 lead after the first inning. Teagan Shomin and Kaylie Rhynard opened the contest with back to back singles and Kelcie LaTour knocked Shomin in after she advanced to third on a passed ball for the 1-0 lead. One batter later, freshman Nikoma Holmen forced the Bearcats to take the out at second base while Rhynard crossed the plate for the 2-0 lead. GVSU couldn't string together any more hits however, and eventually fell after the homerun.
 
In game two, the Bearcats jumped out to a 1-0 lead after the first but a leadoff double from Shannon Flaherty would spark the Lakers lineup and eventually lead to a three-run bomb from Shomin that scored Kayla Plastiak and Taylor Rieger. GVSU tacked on another run in the top of the third but the Bearcats batters would score four in the bottom half of the inning before eventually building their lead to the 12-5 final.
 
Shomin will look to stay hot this weekend, as she finished the opening weekend 3-for-7 (.429) with one homerun and three RBI. Freshman Taylor Rieger was 2-for-5 (.400) while Rhynard and LaTour (RBI) both went 2-for-6 (.333) to open the season.
 
#19 Winona State will enter the first game with the Lakers with a 3-1 overall record after doubleheaders against Lewis and Grand View. On Feb. 9, the Warriors took two from Lewis by scores of 3-0 and 2-0 before splitting with Grand View the following week. Winona fell 2-1 before coming back to earn a mercy rule victory, 9-1, in five innings. Both Katelyn Kolb and Lani Van Zyl are 4-for-11 (.364) so far to lead the Warriors in average and hits while Rylee Stout leads the way with 4 RBI after blasting a grand slam for her one hit of the season. In terms of pitching, Jordyn Kleman spun a complete game four-hitter where she didn't allow any runs for a 1-0 record while McKenna Larsen is 1-1 on the season in two complete games. Larsen, a 2017 All-America Honorable Mention, has pitched 14 innings, giving up just two runs and striking out seven.
 
The Lewis Flyers will enter the Dome Tournament with an 0-2 record after having dropped a pair to Winona State back on Feb. 9 by scores of 3-0 and 2-0. Cassie Shaw leads the way for the Flyer lineup, as she went 3-for-6 against the Warriors, while the rest of the lineup struggled against the strong pitching of Winona. Shaw also leads the Flyers in ERA (1.40), having given up two runs in five innings of work in the loss. Taylor Boelte was tagged with the loss in the second game after giving up two runs in six innings.
 
The Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars currently sit at 2-2 overall after their four-game stretch at the 6-State Classic in Kansas. The Stars fell to Northeastern State (13-6) before bouncing back and taking down Missouri Southern State (10-7) and Southwest Baptist (16-5) but fell to Central Missouri (2-1) in extras to end the tournament. Both Erin Stroup and Lakyn Wagoner got off to a quick start to the 2018 season, as they are hitting .556 and .500, respectively. The duo has combined for five RBI but the team lead goes to Hannah Kain with four RBI's in just six at-bats. Ali Haesele sports a team-best 2.68 ERA on the mound in 15.2 IP where she is 1-1 while Jaycee Craver is 1-0 despite her 7.35 ERA this season.
 
The Missouri State Miners will enter the contest with the most games under their belt this season, as they currently sit at 6-3 overall. The Miners are currently on a four-game winning streak, having swept both Lincoln (Mo.) and Truman State over the last week and a half after going 2-3 at the Ronnie Hawkins Tournament in Arkansas. The Miner lineup is on a tear to start this season, as they feature three different players hitting at least .400. Monica Weiss leads the way at .536 (15-for28) and is followed by Courtney Jackson (.529, 9-for-17) and Carly Hamman (.433, 13-for-30). Gretchen Egly can be thanked for most of the Miners runs this season, as she has racked up 12 RBI and two homers. Avery English and Kati Viets do most of the work on the mound for the Miners, with English sitting with a 5-2 record and Viets at 1-1.
 
Following the Lakers weekend at the dome, they will travel to Clermont, Fla. for their annual Spring Break Trip where they will play 12 games over a seven-day span.