PALATINE, ILL. - Though they won't hang any banners for it, the Madison College softball team finished tied atop the North Central Community College Conference standings with a 16-2 record, matching the league mark of Rock Valley College. The #9 WolfPack swept Harper College with wins of 6-1 and 15-2 to reach their best conference finish ever, however, the league crown will belong to the Golden Eagles for a fifth straight year after they won two out of three games played against the 'Pack. Madison College ends the regular season with a program-best 44-7 record and riding a school-record 22-game win streak.

Game #1: #9 Madison College 6, Harper College 1 (7 innings)

Facing the only other team to defeat four-time defending NJCAA Division III national champion RVC, Madison College fell behind early when an error in the outfield allowed the leadoff hitter to circle the bases. The WolfPack pulled even in the second with Brittany Bredemann's run-scoring single, and then took the lead for good with two runs in the third. The first came via wild pitch and the second on a RBI single from Dany Gumz. While starter Alli Walker worked right through the Hawks lineup, the 'Pack provided some insurance runs in the seventh, scoring three times on two extra base hits and a walk.

Walker (12-2) went 1-2-3 in the seventh, striking out the last two batters to reach a career-high 12 K's in the game, her four double-digit strikeout performance. The Portage, Wisconsin, native scattered four hits and two walks while giving up the one unearned run as she picked up her sixth consecutive win and eight in her last nine starts.

Sophomore Ashley Kniesel led the offense with a 2 for 3 effort that yielded two runs and one batted in. Fellow second year players Claire Brzenk and Katelin Gilbertson also had two hits, with Gilbertson driving in a run and scoring another.

Game #2: #9 Madison College 15, Harper College 2 (5 innings)

The regular season finale was all WolfPack, scoring all 15 runs in the first three innings. The visitors sent 11 batters to the dish in the first half inning, and collected seven runs on two hits, while also taking advantage of three walks, five steals, three Hawks errors, and numerous wild pitches. Hannah Grahl and Claire Brzenk were the only players to register a RBI in the inning. The second inning required zero hits as the 'Pack drew five free passes to first and the Hawks committed two more errors to allow five more runs to score. Harper College (13-21, 9-9) issued three more walks in the third, while a Dany Gumz triple and singles from Maddie Krafcheck and Allison Tomlinson each drove in a run to complete the scoring.

In all, Madison College had seven total hits and was walked 11 times. No player had more than one hit, with Kniesel and Gumz each scoring three times to lead the march around the bases.

Hannah Wienen (8-2) closed her regular season with a fourth straight win as she went five innings and struck out nine batters. The native of Scales Mound, Illinois, gave up one earned run and five hits to help the WolfPack defeat the Hawks for a 13th consecutive time. Madison College is now 23-12-1 all-time against Harper.

Up Next:

With a 31-3 record in Region IV play, Madison College has earned the #1-seed in the 2018 NJCAA Region IV Tournament and will host #8-seed Kishwaukee College (10-32, 10-24) for a best-of-three NJCAA Region IV Quarterfinal series on Wednesday, May 2. The WolfPack swept the Kougars in a home doubleheader, winning 10-0 and 10-2, just nine days prior. The wins gave Madison College an 11-10 lead in the all-time series, which includes a 5-5 mark in Wisconsin. This will be the third postseason series between the two programs as Madison College eliminated Kishwaukee College with a pair of wins (4-1 and 8-1) in the same quarterfinal round in 2016, and went the distance in the 2015 quarterfinal series. First pitch at Robert D. Goodman Softball Field is at 1:30 p.m., with game two to follow at approximately 3:30 p.m. Game three, if necessary, will start at approximately 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday's games can be watched via live video stream at MadisonCollege.TV.

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