The Anderson University softball team was picked to finish first in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference pre-season coaches poll on Wednesday.

The Ravens received 76 points and six first-place votes in the poll. Transylvania got two first-place votes and Bluffton received the other first-place vote.

The Pioneers were picked second with 73 points, followed by Bluffton (61), Defiance (59), Manchester (44), Rose-Hulman (34), Mt. St. Joseph (29), Hanover (15) and Franklin (14).

The Ravens won the HCAC post-season tournament championship last year and advanced to the NCAA Div. III national tournament. They lost to national champion Linfield and No. 5 Central, finishing 29-15 overall and 12-4 in the HCAC.

AU has won four conference championships and advanced to four NCAA Regionals in the past 11 years.

AU opens the 2012 season against Wheaton, Mass., in Kissimmee, Fla., on Mar. 10 at 9 a.m.

The Anderson University softball team lost to No. 5 Central 3-2 on Sunday in the NCAA Div. III Central Regional at Pella, Iowa, ending the season.

The game was the first in over 50 hours for the Ravens after two days over rain delays and cancelations. The loss was the second in the tournament for the Ravens against a Top 5 opponent as they also lost to No. 1 Linfield 10-0 in six innings.

Against Central, Katy Ogden led the Ravens with two hits and an RBI. Megan Kruse added a double and scored the other AU run on a bunt by Kourtney Allender to tie the game at 2-2 in the third inning.

Central scored the winning run in the fourth on a two-out single.

Monica Crowe took the loss, giving up four hits and two earned runs in three innings. Devin Moorman pitched three scoreless innings of relief, allowing three hits while striking out one.

AU finishes the season 29-15 overall and was 1-2 in the Central Region. The Ravens won the HCAC post-season tournament on May 7 at Lexington, Ky.

The Anderson University softball team scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to defeat Fontbonne University 6-5 in the second round of the NCAA Div. III Central Regional on Friday in Pella, Iowa.

Trailing 5-3 in their last at-bat, Natalie Moorhouse walked with one out. Katy Ogden singled and Kourtney Allender bunted for a hit to cut the deficit to 5-4. Lauren Smith moved both runners into scoring position with a groundout and Stephanie Atkins singled up the middle to score both runners.

Atkins led the Ravens with two hits and two RBI, including her third game-winning hit this post-season.

Megan Ream and Ogden added two hits each and Megan Kruse chipped in with a double.

Devin Moorman earned her 10th victory of the season on the mound, allowing three hits and no runs in 2.2 innings of relief.

AU (29-14) will play the loser of Coe/Central on Saturday in Pella, Iowa at 4 p.m.

The Anderson University softball team lost to No. 1 ranked Linfield (Ore.) 10-0 in the first round of the NCAA Div. III Central Region on Thursday in Pella, Iowa.

The Ravens only hit was from Amy Wuestefeld in the sixth inning as Claire Velaski improved to 20-1 for the Wildcats on the mound.

Linfield (42-2) scored a run in the first and added another in the third inning, but led just 2-0 after 4 1/2 innings.

Then the nations leading offense exploded for five runs in the fifth and ended the game with their NCAA leading 90th home run in the sixth inning.

Monica Crowe took the loss on the mound, allowing four hits and five runs in 4.2 innings while striking out four.

AU (28-14) will play Fontbonne (29-9) in the loser’s bracket on Friday at 10 a.m.

The Anderson University softball team topped the All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference teams with 10 players on the three squads for the 2011 season on Wednesday.

Katie Lee, Lauren Smith and Lys Hess were named to the 13-player 1st Team for this season. Lee was also named the Freshman of the Year after batting .405 with 34 runs, six doubles, four triples, 15 RBI and seven stolen bases. In conference only games, Lee batted .526 while Smith was at .512 and Hess a .429 clip.

Overall, Smith batted .412 this season with 22 runs, six doubles, a triple, three home runs and 13 RBI while Hess finished at .360 with 18 runs, six doubles, a triple, five home runs and 19 RBI.

Named to the 2nd Team were sophomores Amy Wuestefeld, Katie Ogden, Megan Ream, Devin Moorman and juniors Allie Hoover and Stephanie Atkins.

In HCAC games, Moorman finished with a 7-1 record and a 2.16 earned run average in 45 innings pitched, including seven complete games. Overall, Moorman was 9-4 with a 3.02 ERA and eight complete games in 16 starts with 50 strikeouts.

In HCAC play, Hoover batted .542, followed by Ream (.500), Wuestefeld (.415), Odgen (.362) and Atkins (.341).

Overall, Wuestefeld led the Ravens in hitting with a .426 average, 31 runs, six doubles, four triples, one home run, 18 RBI and 13 stolen bases.

Ogden batted .339 with 21 runs, a team-high 14 doubles, two home runs, 25 RBI and Ream was at .286 with 13 runs, three doubles, a triple, three home runs and 14 RBI.

Hoover hit .395 with 11 runs, 11 doubles, 15 RBI and Atkins batted .274 with 17 runs, 10 doubles, two triples and 18 RBI.

Sophomore Natalie Moorhouse was named to the Honorable Mention team after hitting .341 in HCAC games. Overall she batted .347 with 22 runs, 11 doubles, six home runs and a team-high 34 RBI.

AU (28-13, 12-4 HCAC) won the HCAC post-season tournament last weekend at Transylvania and will be playing in the NCAA Div. III Central Region on Thursday against No. 1 Linfield at 10 a.m.

Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference champion Anderson University is headed to Pella, Iowa, for the NCAA Div. III Central Region on Thursday.

The No. 8 seed Ravens (28-13) will play No. 1 seed and top-ranked Linfield College (41-2) in the first game on Thursday at 11 a.m. (10 a.m. central time).

“We’re excited to make our fourth regional appearance in the national tournament,” said AU coach Tony Holloway. “Obviously, Linfield is a quality opponent and will be a challenge for our team. We feel we played one of the toughest schedules in the nation and that has prepared us for the challenge that lies ahead.”

The NCAA selection committee announced the 60-team Div. III playoff field on Monday as part of a streamed internet selection show on NCAA.com.

Also receiving bids to the Central Region tournament are Central (Iowa), Fontbonne (Mo.), Washington-St. Louis (Mo.), Coe (Iowa), Wisconsin-Whitewater and Benedictine (Ill.).

AU earned the HCAC automatic bid into the tournament by defeating Defiance College 6-4 in the championship game on Saturday in Lexington, Ky.

The Ravens have won 19 of their last 23 games, including a 4-1 mark in the HCAC tournament.

The Central Region features four teams ranked in the top eight nationally. In the most recent National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll. Linfield is ranked No. 1, Central is No. 5, Coe is No. 7 and Wisconsin-Whitewater is No. 8.

Thirty-five conferences have been granted automatic qualification and six independents were selected for the 2011 championship. The 18 remaining teams were selected on an at-large basis from automatic qualifying conferences and the remaining independent institutions

Eight double-elimination tournaments are scheduled to begin Thursday and Friday on campus sites. Eight teams will compete at six first-round sites starting Thursday and six teams will compete at two first-round sites beginning Friday. All first-round sites will use a double-elimination format.

The eight-team Division III championship finals, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, will be held May 20-24 at Moyer Sports Complex, Salem, Va.

The Anderson University softball team defeated Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Defiance College 6-4 in 12 innings of the championship game to win the post-season tournament on Saturday at Hall Field in Lexington, Ky.

The Ravens defeated Transylvania 2-0 in the first game to advance to the championship against Defiance. AU defeated Defiance 3-0 in the first championship game to force a winner-take-all contest.

“I’m so excited for our players,” said AU coach Tony Holloway. “To win a championship is one of our goals and it was a gutsy effort by our team today to win three games in 26 innings.”

In the final championship game, Katie Lee drove in the courtesy runner in the top of the 12th and Amy Wuestefeld followed with a double to plate Lee.

AU survived two innings when Defiance had the winning run on third with less than two outs in the bottom of the 9th and 10th frames.

“Give our kids a lot of credit in those situations,” said Holloway. “We never gave up and kept fighting and battling and it paid off. We had some great pitching and key defensive plays to keep them from winning the game in those extra innings.”

Lauren Smith earned the victory on the mound, allowing four hits and no earned runs in eight innings of relief. Devin Moorman tossed the first four innings, allowing six hits and two runs.

Kourtney Allender led the offense with three hits and an RBI and Wuestefeld and Lee added two hits and an RBI.

Allie Hoover had two hits and Megan Kruse added a two-RBI single.

In the first championship game against Defiance, Wuestefeld led the Ravens with two hits and two RBI, including a home run. Lee had two hits, two runs and Katy Odgen added a RBI single.

Monica Crowe tossed a complete game to earn the victory, allowing just two hits and no runs while striking out three.

In the first game of the day against Transylvania, Crowe also tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just three hits while striking out four.

“Monica has been our leader on the pitching staff the whole year and she was just outstanding today,” said Holloway. “To throw two complete game shutouts back-to-back against that caliber of offense was unbelievable. In was a team effort from the pitching staff as we got four good innings out of Devin and eight innings of shutout relief by Lauren.”

Natalie Moorhouse led the offense with two hits and Wuestefeld and Hoover added RBI singles.

Moorhouse, Crowe, Wuestefeld, Lee and Stephanie Atkins were all named to the 2011 HCAC All-Tournament Team on Saturday.

The title was the sixth HCAC post-season tournament championship for the Ravens. They also won the title in 1994, 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2007.

AU (28-13) advances to the NCAA National tournament next Thursday. The NCAA tournament selection show is scheduled for noon on Monday.

The Anderson University softball team defeated Bluffton University 2-1 in the first game of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference post-season tournament on Friday at Hall Field in Lexington, Ky. The Ravens lost the second contest to Defiance College 2-1 in eight innings.

Against Bluffton, Megan Ream had a double and a triple and Stephanie Atkins had a walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh to drive in the winning run.

Ream scored the first run of the game on Amy Wuestefeld’s bunt single in the bottom of the sixth to give the Ravens a 1-0 lead.

Katy Ogden added a double as the Ravens outhit the Beavers 7-3 in the contest.

Monica Crowe earned her 11th victory of the season on the mound, allowing three hits and no earned runs while striking out six.

Against Defiance, Katie Lee led the offense with three hits and a run scored.  Ogden drove in the first run of the game to give the Ravens a 1-0 lead.

The Yellow Jackets used a leadoff walk, error, sacrifice bunt and another error to score the winning run in the eighth inning.

Devin Moorman took the loss on the mound, allowing eight hits and one earned run while striking out three.

AU (25-13) plays top-seeded Transylvania in the loser’s bracket on Saturday at 11 a.m. The will will have to beat Defiance twice in to win the conference championship.

Anderson University’s Monica Crowe has been named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week for the second time on Monday.

Crowe finished the week 2-0 with a pair of complete game shutouts in 12 innings with six hits allowed, no earned runs, and 18 strikeouts.

The junior pitcher led the Ravens to an 8-0 win over Franklin on Friday and a 3-0 win over Mount St. Joseph on Saturday.

Anderson (24-12, 12-4 HCAC) finished second in the standings and will tangle with Bluffton in the HCAC tournament at Transylvania Friday.

The Anderson University softball team swept Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Mt. St. Joseph on Saturday at Raven Field in the regular season finale for Senior Day. The Ravens won the first game 3-0 and the second contest 4-1.

In the first game, Allie Hoover led the offense with two hits and two runs scored, including a double.

Stephanie Atkins had a two-RBI single and Megan Kruse added an RBI hit.

Monica Crowe tossed a four-hit shutout on the mound, striking out 12 Lions in seven innings. The victory was the 10th of the year for the junior pitcher.

Lone senior Ellen Thompson played first base in her final home game, despite a knee injury that will require surgery after the season.

In the second game, Amy Wuestefeld led the offense with two hits, an RBI and a run scored.

Lys Hess had two hits and Natalie Moorhouse added an RBI double. Kruse chipped in with an RBI single.

Devin Moorman won her ninth game of the year on the mound, allowing seven hits and one run in seven innings while striking out eight without a walk.

AU (24-12, 12-4 HCAC) finishes the regular season in second place and will be the No. 2 seed in the post-season tournament on Friday in Lexington, Ky.