The St. Scholastica Saints will be represented by four different teams in Florida over spring break this year. The baseball team, softball team and both men's and women's tennis teams will be playing in various cities in Florida from March 12-17.
Baseball
St. Scholastica Saints (3-5)
The Saints once again will take a spring break trip to Florida but this year they'll spend all of their time in Ft. Pierce for the first time since 2009. The Saints went 7-1 in Florida last year and undefeated in Ft. Pierce as their only loss came in Vero Beach to Gettysburg College. With just one win in their first six games, the Saints turned it around with a double header sweeping St. Olaf 3-1 and 6-2 in the Metrodome.
Kyle Jensen (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake HS) leads the team at the plate so far this year with a .464 batting average through seven games. Jensen also has two triples which is most on the team.
Kyle Moody (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo HS ) is tops on the team with three doubles and nine RBIs.
Jake Nystrom (Fargo, N.D./Fargo North HS) has two wins as well as 14 strikeouts to lead the team. Nystrom is also best on the team with a 1.80 earned run average.
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Key Matchup:
Thursday March 15, 9 a.m. (ET) – Keystone College (doubleheader)
Since the Saints were bumped from the top 25 after losing three of four in St. Louis last weekend, they could use a couple of wins over 14th ranked Keystone to get back into the poll. The Saints and Giants have only met once back in 2005 in Ft. Pierce where the Giants came away with a 10-1 victory.
Softball
St. Scholastica Saints (1-3)
CSS softball is traveling to Clermont, Florida for the second straight year for its spring break trip. Last season on the trip the Saints went 4-6 and will look to eclipse the .500 mark in Florida this year. The Saints haven't started the way they hoped dropping their first three games to Simpson, UW-Stevens Point and a close game with UW-Oshkosh but turned it around with a victory over Finlandia.
Merryssa Tiedeman (Zumbrota, Minn/Zumbrota-Mazeppa HS),
Jordan Spiering (Mounds View, Minn./Irondale HS) and
Tiff Hudack (Ashland, Wis./Ashland HS) all have a home run on the season and Hudack and Tiedeman lead the team with nine total bases. Spiering has the lone win on the mound for the Saints this year but
Darcy Roach (East Grand Forks, Minn./Sacred Heart HS) has powered her way to 14 strikeouts in two appearances.
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Key Matchup:
Tuesday March 13, 3 p.m. (ET) – Ripon College
The Saints and Red Hawks met in Clermont last year during spring break where the Saints came away with a 6-3 victory but Ripon got revenge in the NCAA Regional in Eau Claire, Wis. ending the Saints' season with a 3-2 victory last May.
Men's Tennis
St. Scholastica Saints (4-3)
This will be the seventh straight spring break trip to Orlando for the CSS men's tennis team. Last year the Saints won just two of their six matches in Florida but won the two matches 7-2 and 9-0. The Saints began the season dropping three of their first four matches but have cruised back above .500 with three straight wins including a 9-0 victory over Edgewood College.
James Mack (Portsmouth, England/Cams Hill School) has a 6-1 record this season earning him the most victories on the team including six straight wins.
Kolin Dean (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander HS) has a 4-0 record and Mack and Dean are undefeated as a doubles team as well at 2-0.
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Key Matchups:
Tuesday and Thursday – Earlham College, Saint Ambrose University
The Saints will be looking for revenge after falling to both Earlham and Saint Ambrose in Orlando a season ago.
Women's Tennis
St. Scholastica Saints (4-2)
The women's tennis team will also be traveling to Orlando for the seventh straight season. Last year the team had a successful trip going 5-1 with the only loss being to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. The Saints have won four of their last five games including two straight shutout wins over Concordia University (Wis.) and Edgewood College.
Alexis Gunderson (Virginia, Minn./Virginia HS) is leading the way for CSS this year with a 6-0 record in singles matches. The tandem of
Cortne Solberg (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji HS) and
Rachael Zwiener (St. Cloud, Minn./Home School) are 5-1 as a doubles team this season including two straight victories. Solberg is also currently on a four-match winning streak as a singles player.
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Key Matchup:
Thursday March 15, 9 a.m. (ET) – Saint Ambrose University
The Saints defeated Saint Ambrose without too much of a problem last year, but with seven returners the Queen Bees will play a familiar CSS team tough in Orlando
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ALL TIMES EASTERN