WEBSTER GROVES – For the first time since 2018 and the 14th in school history, Webster University will return to the postseason on Wednesday, May 5 as the No. 2 seeded Gorloks play host to No. 7 seeded Eureka College in the quarterfinals of the 2021 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Softball Tournament at 4:30 p.m. at St. Joseph's Academy in Frontenac.
 
The Gorloks, who won five of its last seven regular season games, enter the SLIAC Tournament sporting a 16-10 overall and finished regular season league play with a 6-4 record to earn the No. 2 seed in this year's SLIAC Tournament, which is the program's highest seed in the tournament since 2012, when the Gorloks finished as the tournament runner-up following a 6-5 loss to top-seeded Fontbonne in the championship game.
 
This year's tournament features a different format as all eight teams have qualified for the event and after Wednesday's quarterfinal round, which will be played at the higher seed home fields, the tournament will move to Westminster (Mo.) College in Fulton, Mo., for the final three days of the tournament. All games played at Westminster will feature a double elimination format.
 
This will mark the first time since 1999 that the SLIAC Softball Tournament will feature all eight teams, but the first time that the entire tournament will not be a complete double elimination format as the teams that lose in the quarterfinals on Wednesday will see their seasons completed.
 
Along with Webster's quarterfinal game at St. Joseph's Academy with Eureka, the other quarterfinal match-ups feature top-seeded and regular season SLIAC Champion Fontbonne (17-16, 10-4 SLIAC) hosting No. 8 seeded Blackburn College (4-16 overall, 3-9 SLIAC) at 4:30 p.m. at ABC Park in St. Ann, Mo., while No. 3 seeded Spalding (12-11 overall, 6-5 SLIAC) hosts No. 6 seeded Greenville (9-14 overall, 3-3 SLIAC) in Louisville, Ky., at 3:30 p.m. CT and the final quarterfinal match-up features No. 4 seeded Westminster (15-17 overall, 6-6 SLIAC) hosting No. 5 seeded Iowa Wesleyan (6-12 overall, 4-4 SLIAC).
 
The four quarterfinal winners will advance to Thursday's semifinal double-elimination round in Fulton, Mo., at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. The championship game of this year's SLIAC Tournament is scheduled for Saturday, May 8 at 12 p.m., with a second if necessary game to follow at 2:30 p.m.
 
After seeing the 2020 SLIAC Tournament canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the defending champion of the SLIAC Tournament is Eureka, who defeated Spalding, 11-3, in the championship game of the 2019 tournament in Fulton, Mo.
 
Webster, who has won four SLIAC Tournament titles with the most recent coming in 2009, comes into the postseason hitting .302 as a team and has scored 121 runs and is averaging 4.6 runs per game and has a league-best ERA of 2.95. Webster's ERA is over a run better than Fontbonne's 4.02, which is second-best in the league.
 
Leading the way offensively for the Gorloks is fifth-year senior centerfielder Abby Burroughs (Edwardsville, Ill./Triad), who is hitting a team-best .435 and leads the team in hits (37), runs scored (22), doubles (9), home runs (5) and RBI (24). Burroughs comes into the postseason riding a seven game hitting streak and hit .575 in SLIAC play with 23 hits, 10 runs scored, six doubles, two home runs and 12 RBI.
 
In addition to Burroughs, two other Gorloks are hitting over .400 on the season as senior outfielder Breelyn Craig (Victorville, Calif./Trinidad State) is hitting .421 and freshman shortstop Sidney Holtz (Taylorsville, Utah/Murray), who was named this week's final Diamond Sports/SLIAC Softball Hitter of the Week, is hitting .408 and is second on the team in hits (31), runs (18), doubles (8) and fourth in RBI with 11.
 
Along with three players hitting over .400 on the season, the Gorloks have four other players carrying a .300 or better batting average.
 
Meanwhile, in the circle, the Gorloks have three pitchers that have thrown 49 or more innings with freshman Reese Waggoner (Centennial, Colo./Eaglecrest) leading the way with 54.2 innings of work. In addition to Waggoner, who was named this week's final Diamond Sports/SLIAC Softball Pitcher of the Week, senior Kirbie Mendenhall (Robinson, Ill./Parkland College) has tossed 54.1 innings and leads the team and is tied for league lead in wins with eight and is second in ERA with a 1.93, while senior Morgan Parrish (Lawrenceville, Ill./Parkland College) leads the team and is fourth in the league in strikeouts with 37.
 
Waggoner, who is a two-time SLIAC Pitcher of the Week, is 5-2 with a 2.43 ERS and has made 13 appearances, seven starts and a team-best five complete games. Waggoner has recorded 30 strikeouts and walked just four in 54.2 innings.
 
Mendenhall, who was also a SLIAC Pitcher of the Week during the regular season, is 8-2 with her 1.93 ERA. In 12 appearances and nine starts, she had tossed four complete games and one shutout, while striking out 26 in 54.1 innings and Parrish, who was also a SLIAC Pitcher of the Week during the regular season, is 3-3 with a 3.71 ERA and she has also made 12 appearances and seven starts and has tossed three complete games and in 49 innings, has had 37 strikeouts and has walked 20.
 
Webster, who is coached by third year head coach Katie Griffith, has posted a 26-17 all-time record in the SLIAC Tournament, including winning the championship four times (1998, 1999, 2007 and 2009). In addition, Webster has been tournament runners-up five times (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2017). 
 
Griffith is her third season at the helm of the Gorloks softball team and has posted a 31-42 overall record and a 13-15 mark in SLIAC play. The 16 wins this season for Webster are the most since the 2018 squad won 18 games and posted an 18-17 record. In fact, the 16 wins this season are the exact same amount of the wins the program has won the past two seasons combined as they went 10-24 in 2019 and 6-8 in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season.
 
Eureka comes into the tournament sporting an 8-15 overall record and went 4-7 in the league play, but the Red Devils enter the postseason having won two straight games as they concluded the regular season this past Saturday with a doubleheader sweep over Blackburn. The Red Devils are second in the league in home runs with 14 and is hitting .295 this spring, while its pitching staff has compiled a 6.03 ERA.
 
Leading the way offensively for Eureka is junior infielder Raelyn Payne, who is hitting .500 with 36 hits, 27 runs scored, 10 doubles, four home runs and 12 RBI and is 5-for-5 in stolen bases. In addition to Payne, senior infielder Morgan Ledbetter is hitting .428 with four home runs and 27 RBI and has drawn 14 walks, while senior outfielder Jordan Heinz is hitting .403 with 27 hits, 21 runs scored, two doubles and 5 RBI.
 
In the circle, Torre Koontz leads with way with a 3.61 ERA as she is 4-5 and has made 15 appearances and 11 starts and has tossed five complete games and one shutout. In 54.1 innings, she has struck out 19 and walked 13, while Sidney Wightman is 1-7 with three saves and has made a team-best 17 appearances and has thrown a team-best 59.1 innings of work.
 
Fontbonne has won a league-best nine SLIAC Tournament titles and in addition to Fontbonne, Greenville and Webster have each won four tournament titles and Westminster has taken home three tournament titles. Former league member Maryville University won tournament titles in 1994 and 2008 before moving up to the NCAA Division II level. In fact, Fontbonne, Greenville, Maryville, Webster, Westminster and Eureka in 2019 are the only schools that have won SLIAC Tournament titles in softball. 

Here is a look at the 2021 SLIAC Softball Tournament schedule:
 
Wednesday, May 5 – Quarterfinals (at Higher seed)
Game 1 - #8 seed Blackburn (4-16, 3-9 SLIAC) at No. 1 Fontbonne (17-16, 10-4 SLIAC), 4:30 p.m.
Game 2 - #7 Eureka (8-15, 4-7 SLIAC) at No. 2 Webster (16-10, 6-4 SLIAC), 4:30 p.m.
Game 3 - #6 Greenville (9-14, 3-3 SLIAC) at No. 3 Spalding (12-11, 6-5 SLIAC), 3:30 p.m. CT
Game 4 - #5 Iowa Wesleyan (6-12, 3-3 SLIAC) at No. 4 Westminster (15-17, 6-6 SLIAC), 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 6 – Semifinals (at Fulton, Mo.)
(Double-elimination)
Game 5 – Highest remaining seed vs. Lowest remaining seed, 3 p.m.
Game 6 – Second highest remaining seed vs. Second lowest remaining seed, 5:30 p.m.
Friday, May 7 – Semifinals (at Fulton, Mo.)
(Double-elimination)
Game 7 – Game 5 loser vs. Game 6 loser, 12 p.m.
Game 8 – Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 2:30 p.m.
Game 9 – Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 8 – Championship (at Fulton, Mo.)
(Double-elimination)
Game 10 – Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 9, 12 p.m.
Game 11 – If Necessary Game, 30 mins. following completion of Game 10