GETTYSBURG, Pa.  – The Gettysburg College softball team hopes the third time is the charm when it heads to the Centennial Conference Championship hosted by McDaniel College this weekend.
 
Gettysburg (25-12-1, 11-4-1 CC) wrapped up the third seed for the four-team, double-elimination tournament scheduled to start on Friday. The Bullets are scheduled to face No. 2 Washington College (24-14, 13-3 CC) at 4 p.m. Top-seeded McDaniel (24-15-1, 14-1-1 CC) will take on the fourth seed, Franklin & Marshall College (14-20, 8-8 CC), in Friday's opening game at 2 p.m.
 
Three more games are slated to take place on Saturday, while the championship contest is set for Sunday at noon.
 
Gettysburg has qualified for the postseason in each of the last two seasons, but has fallen short of the ultimate prize. The Bullets fell in extra innings to McDaniel in the 2015 title game and despite beating the Green Terror in last season's tournament opener, dropped its next two contests to miss a shot at the trophy.
 
The team is making its 12th appearance in the playoffs and is searching for its first tournament title since 2007. After dropping its opening game in last season's championship, Haverford College made a run to the title and parlayed that momentum into a NCAA regional championship. Gettysburg Head Coach Annette Hunt-Shepherd is hoping her team is ready to make the same kind of run at this stage of the season.
 
"We've been working hard to become more consistent in our approach and performance," said Shepherd, who is 101-55-1 in four seasons at Gettysburg. "We are working hard to get more production out of our lineup and ideally that comes together this weekend."
 
After starting the season 13-8-1, Gettysburg has turned in a 12-4 mark over its last 16 games, with two of those setbacks coming at the hands of No. 8 Messiah. During that time, the team has raised both its slugging and on-base percentages. The Bullets have also committed just 13 errors over the last 16 games.
 
The Orange and Blue has played competitive contests with all three remaining playoff teams. Gettysburg dropped a pair of close games to Washington early in the conference schedule. The Bullets faced McDaniel in its very next outing, falling in the opening game 2-1 in 10 innings before tying the nightcap 2-2. Gettysburg swept Franklin & Marshall College 4-0 and 4-1 on April 18 at Bobby Jones Field.
 
"The team is really close this year and we don't want the season to end," said senior Jamie Abell (Glenn Dale, Md./Elizabeth Seton). "We love playing together and just reminding the team that we need to keep winning to keep playing together seems to be enough. Everyone is motivated and prepared for the tournament."
 
Experience won't be an issue for Gettysburg as nine players returned that started in the postseason last spring. At the top of that list is Abell, a three-time all-conference performer and the 2016 CC Player of the Year. The senior shortstop has keyed Gettysburg's offense over the last several weeks, hitting .418 (23-for-55) with two home runs and 13 RBI over the last 16 games. She enters her final postseason seven hits shy of the program's record of 213.
 
Sophomore Meredith Taylor (Hamilton, N.J./Northern Burlington) joins Abell as one of four Bullets with .300-plus batting averages. The sophomore catcher is hitting .360 with nine doubles and 24 RBI this season.
 
Newcomers will also look to make an impact for Gettysburg this weekend. Freshman Taylor Doi (Foster City, Calif./San Mateo) has been a sparkplug at the top of the lineup and is hitting .360 with 34 runs and 16 stolen bases. Freshman Sarahrose Jonik (Glenmoore, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) rounds out the top hitters with a .309 batting average and 17 RBI.
 
Both of Gettysburg's anticipated starting pitchers have felt the thrill of the playoffs before. Junior Aileen Reilly (Huntington Station, N.Y./St. Anthony's) and sophomore Morgan Clauser (Columbus, N.J./Northern Burlington) have combined for a conference-best 1.89 ERA this season. Reilly is 11-6 with an ERA of 1.39 and 109 strikeouts over 125.2 innings. Clauser leads the team in wins with a 14-5 mark and owns a 2.05 ERA.
 
All the experience in the world can only get the Bullets so far and Shepherd knows it's going to come down to how her team performs in the face of adversity this weekend.
 
"This time of year there are a lot of distractions and pressures on the student-athletes," noted the head coach," so while experience certainly helps, the challenge is making sure it works for us and not against us."
 
The weather forecast could impact this weekend's schedule, particularly Friday with anticipated heavy rain. Please visit the official championship page for the latest updates to the game schedule: http://www.centennial.org/sports/sball/championships.