NIACC softball team begins tourney trek Friday

BOONE - For the second straight season, the NIACC softball team opens the regional tournament against Iowa Central.

NIACC faces Iowa Central at 4 p.m. Friday on the DMACC campus in the opening round of the NJCAA Region XI-B tournament.

Last season, Iowa Central topped NIACC 2-1 in the regional tournament opener and then eliminated the Lady Trojans with a 9-0 victory.

Six-seed NIACC (19-29 overall, 10-18 in the ICCAC) is 2-3 against third-seed Iowa Central (32-20, 14-14) this season.

Iowa Central topped NIACC 7-6 on Feb. 12 in Rosemount, Minn. in a nonconference game. The Tritons swept the Lady Trojans 1-0 in nine innings and 17-3 in five innings on March 28 in Mason City and the Lady Trojans swept the Tritons 5-1 and 11-8 on April 9 in Fort Dodge.

The winner of the NIACC/Iowa Central game plays the DMACC/Northeast CC winner at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The loser of the NIACC/Iowa Central game faces the DMACC/Northeast loser at noon on Saturday.

Kirkwood, the ICCAC regular season champion, hosts the NJCAA Region XI-A tournament. Other teams in the Region A tournament are fourth-seed Southwestern, fifth-seed Iowa Lakes and eighth-seed Ellsworth.

The winner of the Region XI-B tournament advances to the NJCAA District G tournament on May 7-8 at the site of the NJCAA Region IX winner. The winner of the District G tournament advances to the NJCAA Division II national tournament in Clinton, Miss. on May 17-21.

For NIACC, sophomore Tricia Notermann enters the regional tournament one hit away from becoming the school's career hit leader. Notermann and Lisa Jipson (1994-95) are tied atop the leaderboard with 116 career hits.

NIACC's 2016 statistical leaders

Batting average - Kendall Cornick .562, Tricia Notermann .405, Allison Scott .348. Hits - Cornick 82, Notermann 60, Scott 56. Doubles - Notermann 18, Scott 12, Lexy Pederson 8. Home runs - Notermann 6, Scott 5, Pederson 3, Brittany Florea 3. RBIs - Scott 52, Notermann 31, Katie LaBuda 27. Runs scored - Cornick 52, LaBuda 32, Notermann 21. Stolen bases - Cornick 62. Wins - Pederson 7-6. Strikeouts - Pederson 125. ERA - Pederson 2.86.

NJCAA Region XI-B tournament

At Boone (DMACC campus)

Friday's games

2 p.m. - (2) DMACC vs. (7) Northeast CC (Game 1)

4 p.m. - (3) Iowa Central vs. (6) NIACC (Game 2)

Saturday's games

Noon - DMACC/Northeast loser vs. Iowa Central/NIACC loser (Game 3)

2 p.m. - DMACC/Northeast winner vs. Iowa Central/NIACC winner (Game 4)

4 p.m. - Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 (Game 5)

Sunday's games

Noon - Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner (Game 6, championship game)

2 p.m. - Championship game 2, if necessary.