DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica softball team will be in Decorah, Iowa for the second time in three years where it opens with host, No. 3 Luther College (Iowa), Friday in the opening game of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Where:
Betty A. Hoff Field at the Luther College Softball Stadium – Decorah, Iowa
When:
Friday
Game 1: #2 St. Catherine vs. #3 Univ. of Chicago – 1 p.m.
Game 2: #1 Luther vs. #4 St. Scholastica – 3:30 p.m.
Saturday
Game 3: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 – 11 a.m.
Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 – 1:30 p.m.
Game 5: Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 3 – 4 p.m.
Sunday
Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5 – Noon
Game 7: If necessary only if Winner of Game 5 wins Game 6 – 2:30 p.m.
NCAA Regional Web Site: https://www.luther.edu/sports/women/softball/headlines/?story_id=758475
Live Video/Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/luther/
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/csssoftball
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/csssaints
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/St-Scholastica-Softball-Fan-Page-257498654307193/
St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 24-15, 14-2 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Last Action: After falling in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament championship in 2016, the Saints found redemption, going 3-0 last weekend, outscoring the three opponents 31-1 to win their 14
th UMAC Tournament title …
Chrisi Mizera (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East HS) won all three games for the Saints and hit two home runs in Saturday's championship game against the University of Northwestern (Minn.).
NCAA History: The Saints are 2-10 in NCAA postseason play and have lost seven straight regional postseason games … CSS won its first-ever regional game in its first appearance against Washington University-St. Louis in 2006 … CSS also defeated North Central University (Ill.) in 2011 … Six of the 10 losses have come against teams from the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) … The 24 wins entering the NCAA Tournament are the fewest entering a regional of the five previous appearances
Record vs. NCAA Tournament Teams: St. Scholastica went 1-4 against this year's NCAA Tournament field … CSS lost to fellow regional participant St. Catherine University to open the season and Friday's opponent, Luther, that same weekend … CSS then beat Mount Saint Mary (N.Y.) and fell to William Paterson University (N.J.) at the Rebel Spring Games during spring break.
Trends: The Saints are 15-0 when leading after five innings and are 19-3 when they record the first run of the contest … They are 0-10 when they fail to out-hit their opponents.
Big Innings: The Saints have outscored their opponents in the second and third innings this season 95-32 … CSS has scored at least 38 runs in each of the first three innings this year … The Saints have also have shown the fight to rally, outscoring teams 18-3 in the seventh inning.
Winning a Different Way: After recording over 600 total bases and over 30 home runs each of the previous three seasons, CSS enters the NCAA Decorah Regional with 508 total bases and 13 home runs … However, the Saints have a touch better on-base percentage than the last two seasons at .403 and still rank eighth in NCAA Division III with 2.08 doubles per game.
Hitting Against Non-UMAC Teams: Alexa Bremer (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) is hitting .355 against someone other than UMAC pitching with a team-high seven doubles …
Olivia Bretting (Ashland, Wis. /Ashland HS ) is hitting .333 and
Hannah Borgeson (Woodville, Wis./Baldwin-Woodville HS) has 22 total bases … CSS has yet to hit a home run against a non-conference opponent.
Best Season Yet for Mizera: Senior pitcher
Chrisi Mizera (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East HS) is having her best season as a Saint both as a pitcher and hitter … Mizera has a 1.85 earned run average, which is 0.17 lower than her career low of 2.02 last season … She also went over 100 strikeouts for the fourth straight season and is three shy of becoming only the second player in program history to record 500 strikeouts in a career … At the plate, Mizera has a career-high .369 batting average, seven doubles and 23 RBIs … She matched her home run output from last season of five … Her two home runs against Northwestern on Saturday was her first multi-home run game of her career … She is one hit shy of 100 for her career … She had a team-high 10-game hitting streak come to an end during the UMAC Tournament.
Regional Participants
#3 Luther Norse
Record: 39-3, 15-1 IIAC
The Norse are ranked No. 3 in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll … They have been ranked in the top 10 nationally all season … Luther won its second consecutive Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Tournament title last weekend, defeating Central College (Iowa) in nine innings … This is the Norse's ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and the 18
th overall … Last year, Luther fell to Illinois Wesleyan University in the super-regional … Junior shortstop Anna Strien was named the IIAC Position Player of the Year and is a top 25 finalist for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division III Player of the Year … Strien led the conference in batting posting an average of (.532) and on-base percentage (.613) … She leads the nation with 62 RBIs and ranks second in the country with a .627 on-base percentage … Joining Strien on the All-IIAC First Team was junior outfielder Ashley Burrows, senior outfielder Sara Nelson and sophomore pitcher Samantha Bertrand … Annie Versnik, who was a second team choice, blanked the Saints in the their meeting during the regular season.
#25 St. Catherine Wildcats
Record: 32-11, 17-5 MIAC
The Wildcats will be making their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance after advancing all the way to the regional final last year before falling to Luther … St. Kate's defeated Hamline University 6-2 to capture the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Tournament title for the first time in program history after finishing second in the league during the regular season … Jenna George leads the offense with a.463 batting average, 11 home runs and 52 RBIs … Krista Flugstad is the catalyst of the pitching staff with a 23-4 record and a 1.12 ERA … Flugstad was named the MIAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player … Flugstad held the Saints to two hits in four innings to open the season.
Chicago Maroons
Record: 25-12
The Maroons will be making their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and for the 11
th time since 2000 … Chicago enters the regional winners of nine of its last 10 games and received the only Pool B available into the 62-team field … Last year, the Maroons advanced to the regional final where they fell to Trine University (Ind.) … Anna Woolery leads the offense with a .444 batting average, while Maeve Garvey has a team-high 15 doubles and 26 RBIs … Molly Moran and Megan Stoppelman have each earned at least 10 wins in the pitching circle and both have an ERA under 2.00.
Series Records:
-Luther leads CSS 7-0
(Last Meeting: 6-0 Luther – 2/26/2017)
-CSS is tied with St. Catherine 1-1
(Last Meeting: 14-0 SCU – 2/25/2017)
-CSS has never faced Univ. of Chicago
Series Histories: This will be the fourth meeting against Luther at a NCAA Regional and fourth time in the opening round of the regional … This is Luther's highest-ever ranking when facing the Saints … The closest margin has been a 3-0 Luther win at the 2011 regional in Eau Claire /// The Saints played St. Catherine for the first time since 2005 to open this season in Rochester … CSS also played Luther in Rochester that weekend.
Looking Ahead: The winner of the NCAA Decorah Regional advances to a best-of-three super-regional series next weekend against the winner of the Pella Regional.
