CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Nebraska Wesleyan University softball team earned their first ever Iowa Conference postseason tournament victory as the 4^th-seeded Prairie Wolves knocked off the No. 5 seed Loras College, 3-2, in the opening round of the 2018 IIAC Tournament on Friday afternoon (May 4) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
 
With the victory, the Prairie Wolves advance to the semifinals and will face top-seeded and host school Coe College on Saturday morning (May 5) at 11 am.  NWU is now just two wins away from their first trip to a national tournament.
 
Nicole Vana hit a sacrifice fly to right field in the bottom of the 4^th inning allowing pinch runner Savannah Lakin to score what would be the go-ahead run for Nebraska Wesleyan as they regained the lead 3-2.
 
Kailey Meyer held the Duhawks scoreless the final three innings to earn her 15^th victory of the season.
 
Loras took the early lead cracking the scoreboard first in the top of the 2^nd inning.  The Duhawks Hadalyn Anderson doubled down the left field line to drive in a run and give Loras a 1-0 advantage.
 
NWU responded in the bottom of the 2^nd as Vana got her first RBI of the game on a single up the middle with the bases loaded to drive in Meyer who had walked earlier in the inning.  The next batter Morgan Shipley got an infield single that allowed Maddy Ethen to score the go-ahead run.
 
In the top of the 4^th the Duhawks tied the game as Hannah Towns hit a home run over the right field fence making the score 2-2.  In the bottom of the inning Ethen led off with a single then was pinch ran for by Lakin.  Lakin advanced to second on a sacrifice and moved to third on a wild pitch.  She came around to score on the sacrifice fly by Vana.
 
Vana was 1-2 on the day with two RBI.  She also set a new NWU school record by playing in her 154^th career game.  Vana has now played in more games than any softball player in Nebraska Wesleyan history.
 
Jordan Arndt was 2-3 on the day as the only Prairie Wolves player with multiple hits.  NWU had seven total hits in the victory.
 
Meyer had a solid pitching line allowing two earned runs on six hits.  She struck out four and walked just two to move to 15-6 overall.
 
NWU now prepares for their semifinal matchup versus Coe College, a team that defeated the Prairie Wolves twice in the regular season, including a 4-3 win in 12 innings.
 
The winner of the IIAC tournament receives an automatic berth to the NCAA III National Tournament.