NEWBERG, Ore. -- The George Fox softball team will have a chance for redemption in the first round of the 2023 NWC Tournament.

The Bruins face the Pacific Lutheran Lutes in Friday's opening round game — a team that Fox lost two four times earlier in the season. The early February series saw the Bruins drop two heartbreaking walk-off losses.

Since that point, though, the Bruins have switched up their season, finishing the year undefeated at home and rising to a tie for second place in the NWC standings; since those four losses to the Lutes, the Bruins have gone 23-7 overall and 18-6 in conference play.

One of those conference wins was a huge road victory over top-ranked Linfield —the 6-1 Bruin victory on March 29 was the only loss of the conference slate for the seventh-ranked Wildcats.

"We are excited going into this weekend, but know we have three tough teams in the tournament," Bruin head coach Jessica Hollen said, "The NWC is never easy, and this weekend will be no different.  We are just excited to start fresh and go chase something pretty special."

The Bruins will take on Pacific Lutheran on Friday, April 21, in a game scheduled to begin at 5:30 pm. The double-elimination tournament features the Bruins, Lutes, Wildcats, and fourth-seeded Whitworth Pirates, a team the Bruins split with just one week prior. Be sure to check our ticket information, streaming, and statistics for the games.