MCMINNVILLE, Ore. — As they gear up to compete in their third NCAA Regional in four years, Chapman Softball remains hungry for more. The 2025 SCIAC Champions will play against Lewis & Clark College in the Linfield Region. If they Panthers win, they will face off against the winner of the Linfield versus Johnson & Whales game. The tournament will serve in a double elimination format. 

Prior to earning an automatic bid to the regional, the Panthers won the SCIAC Tournament defeating Redlands, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer over five games in three days. Pitcher Rose Malen earned tournament most valuable player after pitching a complete game shut out in the title clinching game against CMS. 

As the Panthers gear up to play Thursday, Malen will be leading a team that is still hungry for more. Senior star and All-SCIAC First Team outfielder Miranda Murphy finds herself leading that charge. 

"As the lead-off batter, I feel I set the tone for this team, when we go to road games or start off a series at home, the first batter to come up can set the tone for the rest of the game," Murphy said. "That is the kind of player I want to be to set the team up strong!" 

Setting the team up strong for success will include focusing on a few key components including consistently getting on base, and maintaining a strong pitching lineup. 

The Panthers are scrappy in the batting lineup, with athletes such as Mia Reyes hitting an average of .337 to go along with an on base percentage of .751. The junior, who has recorded 21 runs an 35 hits on the season, also won Chapman Athletics Breakthrough Athlete of the Year. Alongside Reyes, Ilianna Serna, Samantha Kennedy and Jordan Westerfield all have a combined 45 runs and 101 hits which gives the batting line up leverage to score in spurts when they need it the most. 

The Chapman pitching lineup is also one of the most dominant in the conference and in the country. Malen, who was also named the Chapman Athletics Junior Student Athlete of the year on the women's side, has an earned runs average of 1.23. Alongside her, senior star Jillian Kelly has an earned runs average of 2.30. The junior and senior duo have 171 combined strikeouts while having accounted for 27 of the team's total wins. Kelly, who was a finalist for the Women's Sports Scholar Athlete of the Year, has also been named to the All-SCIAC team three times. 

When asked about how they push each other in practice, Kelly was enthusiastically responded that the mutal respect the two have is what pushes them to be the best version of themselves. Their chemistry between one another trickles down to the entire bench. 

The conference champions arrived at the Student Athlete Awards Monday evening, excitedly waving their championship towels as teammates heard their names called. As if sending a message, they are satisfied but not done yet. Softball's journey continues Thursday at 5 p.m. against Lewis & Clark at Linfield College.