PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College softball is set to play one of the toughest non-conference schedules in program history this Spring, as they try to build off their best season in program history. The River Otters will play four teams that are ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top-25 Poll and five teams that competed in the 2025 NCAA DIII Tournament. 
 
The River Otters will take trips to California and Atlanta as they prepare for Northwest Conference play. All six of the River Otters non-conference opponents finished above .500 in 2025 and made it to at least their own conference tournament. Last season, Lewis & Clark set the program record for overall wins (32) and conference wins (21) for a second-straight season. Softball reached the NWC Championship Series for a second-straight year and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. 
 
Lewis & Clark will kick off the season on Friday afternoon when they play their first of three opponents from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). The River Otters will take on Pomona-Pitzer College on Friday at Noon and 2 p.m. The two teams have played in two of the past four seasons, with Lewis & Clark winning three out of the four meetings. In 2024, Charlize Pope and Tallulah Sickels combined for a five-hitter in a 5-1 win over the Sagehens in Portland. 
 
The River Otters will face their first of four nationally-ranked squads on Saturday. They will take on a familiar foe – as Lewis & Clark will play #23 Chapman University at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The two sides played twice in last year's Linfield Regional. In the opener, Lewis & Clark scored three runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game and three more in the top of the eighth, to earn a 7-4 win over Chapman to win their first-ever NCAA Tournament game. Chapman responded with a 10-1 win in an elimination game the next day. 
 
Lewis & Clark will close out the weekend with a doubleheader against #4 Redlands University. The Bulldogs reached the NCAA Tournament for a third-straight season last year and made it to their first NCAA College World Series. The two teams last met in 2022, with Redlands taking both games of the doubleheader in Southern California. 
 
The River Otters will return to the Pacific Northwest for one weekend when they will play their home and conference-opening series. Lewis & Clark will welcome Whitworth University to the Huston Sports Complex on March 7-8. The two teams will play on Saturday at Noon and 2 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Last season, Lewis & Clark swept the series in Portland and outscored Whitworth 38-5. In game one of the series, head coach Shawna Cyrus won her 200^th career game in a 15-0 five-inning win. 
 
Lewis & Clark will take on a pair of first-time opponents the following weekend in Atlanta. Softball will play split doubleheaders on Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 14 against #15 Emory University and Pfeiffer University. The host Emory Eagles made it to the Super Regionals last year before falling in two games to Redlands. Pfeiffer also made it to the NCAA Tournament and lost in the Regional Final to host Salisbury University. 

The River Otters will close out non-conference play on Wednesday, March 18, when they play their only home non-conference doubleheader. They will host College of St. Benedict on Wednesday, March 18. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
 
Lewis & Clark will turn their attention to conference play the next week, as they begin a run of seven conference series in six weeks. Softball will take on Pacific Lutheran University (March 25-26) and host George Fox University (March 28-29) in a span of six days over Spring Break. Both teams made it to the NWC Tournament last season with Lewis & Clark earning elimination game wins over both teams to secure their at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. 
 
After a home series against the University of Puget Sound to open April, Lewis & Clark will travel to take on #3 Linfield University for a four-game series between the top two teams in the NWC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Wildcats and River Otters have finished first and second in the regular-season standings in each of the past two years and met in the NWC Championship Series both times. Last season, Lewis & Clark snapped the Wildcats' 55-game NWC regular-season winning streak with a 4-2 win over Linfield in McMinnville. Maggie O'Leary limited Linfield to just six hits and Sam Gildersleeve hit a go-ahead home run in the top of the seventh to lead Softball past Linfield. 
 
The River Otters will close out the regular season with matchups against Willamette University (April 18-19) and Pacific University (April 25-26). Lewis & Clark will honor their 11 seniors before the team's doubleheader on Sunday, April 26 against Pacific.  
 
Softball returns the vast majority of their roster from the last two playoff runs. The River Otters bring back their top three pitchers from last season and nine of the 12 position players who appeared in 25 or more games. 
 
Senior shortstop Emily Patton is a four-year starter who earned All-Region honors a year ago. She comes into her senior season in seventh in program history with 134 hits and just outside the top-10 in games played (126). Seniors Gina Ozuna and Madison Scroggins and juniors Harper Campanella and Makena Dahir all earned NWC Second Team honors a year ago. In the circle, O'Leary and Pope both rank as two of the top pitchers in program history in nearly every category and will look to cement their status with big senior years.