Softball Aims for Third-Straight Conference Tournament Berth in 2025

By Chase Fisk | Assistant Director of Sports Communication

The Pacific Lutheran University softball team looks to make their third-straight Northwest Conference Tournament under Head Coach Traci Barrett, led by four seniors and returning a pair of Second Team All-Northwest Conference honorees. One year removed from a third-place finish in the Northwest Conference Softball tournament, the Lutes were tabbed No.3 in the NWC Preseason Coaches Poll, the highest the Lutes have been picked in the Traci Barrett era.

The biggest trait this team has is how much they really love to play and they like to play together. The chemistry is good and we've adopted a "whatever it takes" mentality because we're young and we have everyone feeling ready. So I have no doubt that when it's time for somebody's name to be called, that they're going to be ready.

Head Softball Coach Traci Barrett

Rachael Rhinehart pitching against Whitworth

2025 PLU SOFTBALL ROSTER

The Lutes return two All-Conference honorees from the 2024 season, as seven seniors and a pair of First-Team All-Conference Lutes graduated. Last season, thee Lutes went 24-19 and 18-10 in conference play, earning the third-seed in the NWC tournament. Junior Paola Garcia and senior Brooke Tilson look to lead the Lutes back to their third-straight Northwest Conference Softball Tournament in 2025.

Returning to the starting lineup, Woodinville, Washington native, Brooke Tilson. The infielder earned Second Team All-NWC honors in 2024, after batting .289 with nine stolen bases. Tilson will likely be a routine starter for Traci Barrett's middle infield.

The Lutes said goodbye to seven seniors on the 2024 roster, including All-Northwest Conference honorees Molly House, Riley Wada, Emma Ware, and Casey Wright. Leaving behind starting spot availability in the infield and behind the plate.

Senior Infielder #12 Brooke Tilson

The biggest hole that we lost is the experience and the amazing leadership that our seven seniors last year left us and the amount of time that they spent on the field.

Graduate Senior #0 Rachael Rhinehart

Among the returners for the Lutes, they retain most all of their starting pitching from the 2024 season in graduate senior Rachael Rhinehart, junior Rachel Treves, and sophomore Paige Wilson.

Rhinehart, a Woodinville, Washington native, led the Lutes inside the circle a season ago, making 17 starts in 19 appearances. In her first season back in the Pacific Northwest after transferring from Robert Morris University, she threw 98.0 innings, boasting a 4.32 earned run average, including an impressive five-inning, one-hit outing on April 7th, 2024. She pitched a team-high nine complete games and three shutouts, while striking out 89 batters.

Treves, a Bellevue, Washington, native, followed with 18 appearances and 12 starts, with a 5.00 ERA. The junior led the Lutes in the second game of the 2024 Northwest Conference Softball tournament to a 2-0 victory over Willamette, as she threw seven strong shutout innings, while allowing just four hits and striking out two. Earning the win over the Bearcats, Treves and the Lutes earned a spot in the semifinal matchup against Lewis & Clark, where she saw 2.2 innings of work.

Now sophomore, Paige Wilson, looks to use the experience she gained in her 14-appearance and 10-start freshman year to lead the Lutes again in ERA, WHIP, and win percentage. The righty allowed just a .248 batting average against, while walking just 17 batters in the 65 innings pitched.

Paige was pretty plagued with an injury last season, and it's great to see her healthy. We did intrasquad yesterday and she looked like her old self. Just watching her feel confident again is great. We have two incoming freshmen, and a returning sophomore. Maiya Anderson is just now starting to get her arm in the circle again, I know that she’ll be a big contributor when she’s healthy, which we’re hoping is around the corner. It’s great to have the three returners looking at their best, and going into the first six games we will just work through a rotation of them and how they complement each other.

Barrett on her pitching staff returning for the 2025 season

Also returning with experience at the plate from last season's tournament team includes catcher and outfielder Zoe Smithson, who saw action in 42 games last season, hitting .282 with a team-high 24 walks and 11 doubles. She brings the best on-base percentage among qualified hitters back to the lineup (.399) and looks to see playing time in right field and behind the plate for the Lutes.

“And the two behind the plate in the mix, Smithson and McAuley. That is a huge position, that in my time here, we had one for four years. So I know that players that were waiting for their call and are ready. Zoe's also a great right fielder. Ashleighn McAuley will also get some catching starts and her bat is is really coming along, so she'll share time behind the plate, at least at the beginning of the season until we determine what a four-game weekend looks like with our catchers."

Junior #5 Zoe Smithson & 2024 Outfielders

At the end of the day, who can marry their offense and defense best, and make good decisions in-game when they are experiencing the speed of the game on a day-to-day basis is who will likely work themselves into a true starting role.”

The Lutes welcome in a freshman class of 11, all of which looking to fill roles left by those before them. With just one hailing from Washington State (Addy Meyers, Sumner), West Coast Softball experience also comes with two from Hawaii, four from California, two from Oregon, one from Alaska, and one from Arizona.

“Two-thirds of the team is an underclassman. And that our talent is really pushing those that have been here for a while, and that's always the goal in recruiting when you bring in a class, that they push the class ahead of them and anybody who's already on the field. They're very skilled, they have good energy and they're doing a lot of good things.”

Bri Sarae, hailing from Pearl City, Hawaii, may find playing time behind the plate or in the outfield.

“Bri is somebody who's done a great job behind the plate. She's a good outfielder, and she has a good bat. She'll definitely get opportunities in the game.”

The lone representative of Arizona, Mya Grado, looks to fill a utility infield role for Barrett's Lutes, with the loss of last year's seniors Kassidi Dean and Riley Wada.

"Mya Grado is looking really good in our infield. We're developing her to be able to back up every single position until she might have a start opportunity. And that could be in the next week, but right now, she is our best backup shortstop."

Maiya Anderson may be Barrett's compliment to the starting pitching staff, or also find a spot in late-game relief.

“I think she's definitely going to compliment the other three really well. She's a starting pitcher. She's lived in the circle. She's very good. ?And she'll compliment the other three really well. Paige and Anderson are similar in what they throw, and they complement rhino and rock really well in what they throw.”

Traci Barrett and the Lutes, led by just four seniors, are a very young team; and who will step up on a game-to-game basis is yet to be determined. But with playing time up for grabs, the competition amongst the team breeds a culture that brings out the best in everyone and makes the team better as a whole.

“This year I'm looking forward to seeing who's gonna take the spot. And while they're competing, they're also supporting each other, which is very unique.?So it speaks to the culture that they've created internally, that we set the climate for that culture, but they have to exercise it. So practices have been really intentional. They're not ready to leave practice when it's over, they're working really hard.”

PLU Softball opens up the season this weekend on the road in the NFCA Leadoff Classic; a tournament featuring NCAA Division III teams from coast to coast. In their first matchup of the season, the Lutes take on No.18 Pfeiffer University, a team that led the nation in 2024 in earned run average. After a stint of six games over three days in Columbus, Georgia, the Lutes then head south to Leesburg, Florida for The Spring Games, where six more matchups await.

Following a difficult non-conference schedule to open the season, the Lutes begin the Northwest Conference season against the reigning NWC champion, and No.2-ranked Linfield Wildcats at home in a four-game series starting on March 15th.

We look, from a skill standpoint, communication, and defense, we look better than we’ve ever looked at this point in the year. But matching that with experience, and the speed of the game against another opponent. It’s gonna be the biggest challenge of how fast can you take their talent, their skill, their swagger, and match that with the experience that they don’t have.

Lutes' 2025 Schedule