The two-time defending champion Muhlenberg softball team will travel to Westminster, Md., this weekend for the Centennial Conference Tournament.

Western Maryland (26-6 overall) won the CC regular-season title with a 15-1 record and will host the double-elimination tournament. Muhlenberg (21-13), Gettysburg (21-11) and Ursinus (19-16-1) finished in a three-way tie for second, all with 11-5 records.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because last year Western Maryland won the regular season and the other three tied for second. In fact, the four participating schools have

Sophomore centerfielder Nicole Sarno leads the Mules with a .354 batting average.

combined to win every CC softball title since the league’s formation in 1994.

One difference this year is that Muhlenberg is the fourth seed and will face the host Green Terror in the first round. Last season, the Mules were the third seed and never faced Western Maryland, which was the first team eliminated. They defeated Ursinus once and Gettysburg twice, by a combined four runs, to win the championship.

Muhlenberg is 1-5 against the other three teams, but the five losses came by a total of nine runs, including a 3-1, 3-2 sweep at the hands of Western Maryland last Saturday.

The winner of the CC Tournament receives the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The tournament schedule is as follows:
Saturday, April 27
Game 1: Ursinus vs. Gettysburg, 10:00
Game 2: Mules vs. Western Maryland, 12:00
Game 3: loser Game 1 vs. loser Game 2, 2:00
Game 4: winner Game 1 vs. winner Game 2, 4:00
Sunday, April 28
Game 5: winner Game 3 vs. loser Game 4, 12:00
Game 6: winner Game 4 vs. winner Game 5, 2:00
Game 7: replay of Game 6, if necessary

Muhlenberg’s No. 3 doubles team of sophomores Sarah Niebler and Megan Schreiber advanced to the quarterfinals on the first day of the Centennial Conference Individual Championships.

Niebler and Schreiber began by defeating the Johns Hopkins No. 3 team, to whom they lost in the regular season, by a score of 8-5. In the round of 16, they faced Franklin & Marshall’s No. 1 team, which was seeded third in the tournament. The Muhlenberg duo won the first three games, but fell behind 7-6 when the Diplomats won three straight. Both Niebler and Schreiber held serve at love, and in between they broke F&M’s serve to pull out the upset 9-7 win.

The Mules’ other doubles team, sophomore Gena Ross and freshman Emily Oster, was seeded sixth, but lost to an unseeded Dickinson team for its first setback of the spring season.

Senior Jennifer Chung and sophomore Mackenzie Parke won easily in straight sets in the singles tournament. Ross, seeded fourth, lost a tough three-set match.

Freshman Jeff Kraft was the only men’s player to advance to the second round.

Click here for Muhlenberg women’s results.
Click here for Muhlenberg men’s results.

• Golf Team Fourth: The Muhlenberg men’s golf team was in fourth place after Round 1 of the Centennial Conference Championships. With a team score of 336, the Mules were four strokes behind Franklin & Marshall. Gettysburg led with a 318. Senior Kevin FitzPatrick shot an 83 for Muhlenberg. The tournament concludes with rounds on Saturday and Sunday.