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Tournament Central
 
The #7-nationally ranked Grand Valley State softball team is making its fourth overall appearance in the NCAA Division II College Softball World Series – and first since 2016 – tomorrow afternoon (May 23) when they face #3-nationally ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville at 1:30 PM MDT (3:30 PM EST) at the Regency Athletic Complex in Denver, Colo. Reseeding took place after all eight Super Regional Champions were announced and the Javelinas came in as the #4 seed and will be the home team while the Lakers drew the #5 seed and will play as the visiting team tomorrow afternoon. 
 
Both teams come in with very similar resumes thus far this season, with GVSU holding the slight advantage in overall record at 49-8 while Texas A&M-Kingsville comes in at 48-8. They both also finished their respective conference seasons with 24-6 records and are both currently on 15-game winning streaks after sweeping their way through their conference, regional, and super regional tournaments. 
 
The Lakers are in slightly familiar territory, with their last World Series trip in 2016 also sending them to The Regency Athletic Complex in Denver. They will look to stay a little longer this time however, as they went two-and-done with losses coming to #1 ranked West Texas A&M and #16 Armstrong State. 
 
Looking to help lead to the Lakers towards a national title is senior pitcher Allison Lipovsky, who was recently named as one of just three finalists for the 2019 Schutt Sports/NFCA National Pitcher of the Year. Despite an impressive three previous seasons, Lipovsky may be in the midst of her most dominant season. She currently sports a 31-2 record in the circle – which sets a new single-season program record for wins – and has a 0.84 ERA in her 224.0 innings pitched. She's also racked up 326 strikeouts to just 44 walks and tossed 17 shutouts in her 32 total games started. She earned all of the wins in the Lakers run through the regional and super regional tournaments, going 5-0 in that time. 
 
Despite having such a dominant pitcher in the circle, the Laker offense makes sure to supply plenty of runs themselves. Sophomore Nikoma Holmen and freshman Lydia Goble – who was named a finalist for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Freshman of the Year award – have been red hot with runners in scoring position. They have each notched 62 RBI's this season with Holmen leading the team with a .389 average and 16 doubles to go along with her 11 home runs while Goble leads the squad with 13 homers and five triples to go with her .365 average. 
 
Both senior Shannon Flaherty and sophomore Bailey Thatcher are batting .354 on the season and have knocked in 40 and 20 RBI's, respectively, while sophomore Taylor Rieger has racked up 50 RBI's, 15 doubles, nine homers, and three triples herself. Redshirt senior Kaylie Rhynard leads the team with 59 runs scored as the speedster has a knack for stealing bases, going 19-22 so far this season. 
 
The Javelinas come in with a potent offense themselves. Anastasia Leibas is leading the team with a .405 average to go with her 14 doubles and 12 homeruns as she's knocked in 58 runs at the plate so far this season. Victoria Schoonard-Saborio has knocked a team-high 16 doubles to go with her .360 average and 32 RBI's. Loren Kelly has been nearly unstoppable on the base paths, going 39-43 in stolen bases so far this season while Roxy Chapa is tied with Leibas for the team-lead in homers with 12 as she's knocked in 52 runs herself.
 
In the circle, the Javelinas sport two hurlers who have thrown a considerable amount this season. Breanna Smith leads the pair with a 1.84 ERA as she's gone 20-3 on the season while striking out 136 and walking 50 in her 167.1 innings. Despite a slightly higher ERA at 2.07, Saidi Castillo has racked up a 25-4 record in her 179.0 innings, striking out 204 and walking 73. 
 
Again, the Lakers and Javelinas will face off at 1:30 PM MDT (3:30 PM EST) and will play either #1 seed LIU Post or #8 seed Young Harris depending on the outcome of the games.