CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Benedictine Softball punched its ticket to the Heart Conference Tournament Championship game with a pair of wins on Saturday.

The No. 3-seeded Ravens advanced to the Winner's Bracket championship game with a 5-0 win over Missouri Valley College and then knocked off No. 1 seed Central Methodist University to move to 3-0 in the tournament with a 4-1 win.

Against Missouri Valley, the Ravens broke the game open with a three-run fifth inning that was capped off by a 2-RBI double from Clare Heitz.

Kera Willoughby earned the win inside the circle for the Ravens. She threw five innings, striking out 7 before handing the ball off to Lacey Foster. Foster finished off the Vikings, working out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning.

Heitz went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI. Baylee Knorr added an RBI while Rhiannon Martin went 2 for 3 with an RBI.

Against CMU, the Ravens held a 2-1 lead over the Eagles until the top of the fifth inning when Heitz connected on a 2-run home run to give the Ravens a 4-1 lead.

That was all that Bailey Selvage needed to knock off the No. 3-ranked Eagles. In a battle of two of the top pitchers in the Heart, Selvage outdueled Heart Pitcher of the Year Jordyn Ball - giving Ball her first loss of the season.

Selvage finished with 2 strikeouts, scattering 6 hits over 7 innings to move to 20-4 on the season.

Hietz was joined by Megan Forsom with 2 RBI. Kassidy James went 2 for 4 while Knorr added a double.

The Ravens get a second game with the Eagles on Sunday after CMU earned the return game with a win over Grand View University in the Consolation Bracket championship game.

First pitch is scheduled for 2:20 p.m. and can be streamed live on the Heart Conference Network at www.heartconferencenetwork.com.

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