DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica softball team will host the four-team, double-elimination 2012 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Kenwood Field. The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.

GameDay Media:
Tournament Website | Live Stats

Last Action:
The Saints saw their program record 19-game winning streak come to an end with pair of losses to Gustavus Adolphus College on Monday night at the University of Minnesota's Jane Sage Cowles Stadium.

#1 Seed-St. Scholastica Saints (29-10, 20-1 UMAC)
The Saints come into the tournament the three-time defending champions and went 19-0 to end the regular season in conference play … The Saints captured their 16th conference regular season title and 13th outright title in the last 14 seasons … The Saints are just one win away from the team's first 30-win season since 2009 … CSS made their second ever NCAA Tournament appearance last year where they went 1-2 … The Saints are 10-0 at home this season … The Saints are ranked ninth in the country with a .361 batting average … CSS also ranks high in doubles per game (19th), home runs per game (16th), stolen bases per game (10th), runs scored per game (4th), and slugging percentage (3rd) … Junior Bonnie Kowalczyk (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls HS) has had a stellar campaign for a nomination to win a second consecutive UMAC Player of the Year Award … She is currently ranked first in the country in runs batted in with 1.58 per game and is in the top ten in slugging percentage while being ranked 72nd nationally with a .453 batting average … Senior Theresa Tauer (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) has started every game this year and has the most hits on the team with 52 … Senior Darcy Roach (East Grand Forks, Minn./Sacred Heart HS) leads the UMAC with a 12-1 record and 86 strikeouts during conference play … The CSS pitching staff had a 1.57 earned run average in conference games this season, while opponents had a 8.98 ERA.

#2 Seed-Minnesota Morris Cougars (17-17, 14-7 UMAC)
The Cougars finished second in the conference standings for the second consecutive year behind CSS … Morris gave the Saints all they could handle in the UMAC Crossover last weekend in a 5-4 thriller … The Cougars are the only other team in the UMAC to have at least a .500 overall record … The Cougars as a team are ranked in the top 100 nationally in home runs per game (80th) … Molly Olson has been the focal point on offense for the Cougars with a .510 overall batting average, 53 total hits, and 83 total bases, both team-highs … Olson leads the UMAC in several different categories and closed out the regular season on a UMAC best 25-game hitting streak … The streak dates back to March 31 … Three other Cougars bat above .300 … The Morris pitching staff has a combined 5.51 ERA in the conference play, but have given up the third lowest runs on the year (212) in the UMAC .

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Minnesota Morris: 27-1)
The Saints have played Morris the last two weekends, winning all three away from Kenwood Field. CSS swept a doubleheader in Morris two weeks ago 9-1 and 12-6. Then last weekend at the UMAC Crossover, Kowalczyk hit a walk-off home run as the Saints won 5-4.

#3 Seed-Northwestern Eagles (18-20, 13-8 UMAC)
The Eagles enter the conference tournament having won three of their last five games after losing to St. Scholastica (4/24) and Morris (4/27) to finish their regular season … The Eagles will be in search of their first UMAC Tournament title since 1996 … The Eagles started the year 3-10 overall, but played well enough to finish third in the UMAC standings … Briana Rodgers sits fourth in the UMAC with a .439 batting average in conference games … Rodgers leads the Eagles in seven different categories including batting average, total bases, and hits … Kelsey Stoltman is second on the team with a .339 batting average and leads the team in runs scored (34) … Pitcher Molly Johnsen has had a strong 2012 freshman campaign under her belt as she enters the UMAC Tournament with a 2.13 ERA and 119 strikeouts … Johnsen's ERA and strikeouts are second in the UMAC … The Eagle bullpen has a 3.06 ERA in conference play.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Northwestern: 63-10)
The Eagles were the only team to hand the Saints a conference loss this season, winning the first game of a doubleheader on April 6th 4-1. CSS won the second game 10-2 and then would take the third game at Kenwood Field by a score of 3-0. Darcy Roach (East Grand Forks, Minn./Sacred Heart HS) had a perfect game thru 6.2 innings in that win.

#4 Seed-Northland LumberJills (18-21, 11-10 UMAC)
The LumberJills started out strong in conference play, but slipped in the later half of the season to finish fourth in the standings … The LumberJills return to the conference tournament after missing it last year for the first time since the field of four was established in 2005 … The 'Jills are ranked 27th nationally in batting average and have two players ranked in the top 25 for sacrifice flies … Kylie Garing leads Northland offensively with a .415 batting average and has started all 37 games … The 'Jills have four players hitting over .400 in UMAC play … The Northland pitching staff has a 4.53 ERA in conference play … The 'Jills led the UMAC in sacrifice flies (15) and hit by pitch (13) with both categories doubling the next closest opponent.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Northland: 38-8)
The Saints swept the 'Jills in all three games this season. CSS won the conference opener 10-3 at Kenwood Field. The Saints then won the second game 11-3 in Ashland. The third game started in Ashland and ended at Kenwood Field due to rain with the Saints winning 7-3.