The Anderson University softball team defeated Carthage College 9-1 in the first round of the NCAA Div. III Bloomington Regional on Thursday in Bloomington, Ill.

The Ravens finished with 14 hits and three home runs in the contest, increasing their school-record total to 41 long balls. That ranks third in the NCAA in Div. III.

Megan Ream led the offense with two home runs and five RBI, including a two-run shot in the second inning to give the Ravens the early lead.

Amy Wuestefeld and Samantha Steele each had three hits and a run scored and Natalie Moorhouse added two hits, two runs and three RBI, including her 10th home run and a double.

Stephanie Atkins chipped in with two hits and two runs scored.

Monica Crowe improved to 19-2 on the season, allowing two hits and no runs in five innings while striking out four. Devin Moorman tossed the final two innings.

AU (31-10) will play defending national champion Linfield (39-5) in the second round on Friday at 4 p.m.

Anderson University’s Natalie Moorhouse and Devin Moorman have been named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player and Most Valuable Pitcher of the Year, respectively, on Wednesday.

Yardley Collett was named the HCAC Freshman of the Year and Tony Holloway was named the HCAC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.

In addition, the Ravens had six players named to the 13-member All-HCAC 1st Team, three on the 2nd Team and one Honorable Mention selection, matching their record of 10 players selected for the teams in 2011.

Moorhouse, Moorman, Collett, Katie Lee, Monica Crowe and Amy Wuestefeld were named to the 1st Team; Lauren Smith, Samantha Steele and Stephanie Atkins were 2nd Team picks and Megan Ream was Honorable Mention.

Moorhouse batted .356 with 10 doubles, nine home runs and 43 RBI and led the HCAC in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage (1.000).

Moorman was 8-0 with a 0.84 ERA in conference play and has a 15-1 mark over the last two seasons in HCAC play. Overall, she is 10-4 with a 3.06 ERA and has won 10 straight decisions on the mound.

Collett is batting .391 with four doubles, seven home runs and 27 RBI while Lee leads he HCAC in hitting with a .479 average and a team-high 37 runs, 12 doubles, two home runs, 17 RBI and 13 stolen bases.

Monica Crowe is currently 18-2 overall on the season and went 8-0 in the HCAC. She has a 1.99 ERA and 120 strikeouts on the season. Wuestefeld is batting .382 with four doubles and a team-best 17 stolen bases.

Steele is batting .450 with a double and 13 stolen bases; Smith is at .363 with seven doubles, two home runs, 20 RBI and Atkins is hitting .275 with five doubles, five home runs and 24 RBI.

Ream is hitting .314 with five doubles, seven home runs, 14 RBI and nine stolen bases.

Anderson went 30-10 overall during the regular season, including 16-0 in the HCAC. They won three straight to take the HCAC Tournament Championship and are currently in Bloomington, Ill., for the NCAA national tournament. They will play Carthage in the first round on Thursday at 2 p.m. (CST).

The Ravens have won nine consecutive games and 23 of their last 25 contests.

The Anderson University softball team will travel to Bloomington, Ill., for the NCAA Div. III National Tournament, starting on Thursday at eight regional sites.

The 61-team field was announced on Monday morning with the Ravens drawing No. 20 Carthage (34-8) in the first round of the Illinois Wesleyan Regional at 2 p.m. (CST). Anderson (30-10) will be the No. 6 seed after clinching the automatic bid on Saturday by winning the HCAC post-season tournament championship.

“We’re excited to be a part of the NCAA national tournament for the second consecutive season,” said AU coach Tony Holloway. “We have a lot of players who played in the regional last year and we hope that experience will help us in this year’s tournament.”

Illinois Wesleyan (36-6) will be the top seed in the region and is joined by No. 7 Benedictine (33-9), No. 8 St. Norbert (17-18), No. 5 Fontbonne (27-10), No. 4 Wisc.-Eau Claire (32-12) and defending national champion No. 2 Linfield (38-5).

This will be the fifth NCAA regional appearance for the Ravens, who also advanced to the national tournament in 1999, 2000, 2007 and 2011. The Ravens lost to Wesleyan during the 2012 season 5-4, and played both Linfield and Fontbonne in the 2011 Pella, Iowa, region.

The Anderson University softball team defeated Manchester College 6-3 in the championship game of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference post-season tournament on Saturday at Raven Field.

The victory secures the NCAA automatic bid into the national tournament for the second consecutive season for the Ravens.

“I’m so proud of our team and this accomplishment for our players,” said AU coach Tony Holloway. “We have worked hard this season to get to this point and today we accomplished another one of our season goals.”

The top-seeded Ravens finished the regular season a perfect 16-0 and had won their first two conference tournament games on Friday. They improved to 30-10 overall, marking just the second time in school history they have reached 30 regular season wins.

Against Manchester, Monica Crowe improved to 18-2 overall on the mound, allowing six hits and three runs while striking out five in 6.2 innings. Devin Moorman retired the final batter of the game to earn the save in relief.

Katie Lee led the offense with three hits and two RBI in the game, including the game-winning hit in the Ravens’ five-run fourth inning to take control of the game.

Lauren Smith had two hits and Amy Wuestefeld added a two-RBI single. Tori Prine also had an RBI in the game and Megan Ream scored two runs and robbed Manchester of a home run in the third inning.

Lee, Smith, Ream, Crowe, Moorman and Yardley Collett, who had the game-winning two-run homer against Bluffton on Friday, were all named to the 12-player All-Tournament Team.

The NCAA will announce the pairing and regional field on Monday at 10 a.m. The Ravens will play at one of eight regional sites, starting on Thursday.