DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The College of St. Scholastica will host the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Softball Tournament for the fourth straight year and the seventh time in the last eight years, beginning on Thursday at Kenwood Field.
Where:
Kenwood Field – Duluth, Minn.
When:
Thursday
Game 1: #5 Bethany Lutheran vs. #4 UW-Superior – 10 a.m.
Game 2: #3 Northwestern vs. #2 Crown – Noon
Game 3: Winner of Game 1 vs. #1 St. Scholastica – 2 p.m.
Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 – 4 p.m.
Friday
Game 5: Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3 - Noon
Game 6: Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 – 2 p.m.
Game 7: Loser of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 6 – 4 p.m.
Saturday
Championship #1: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of the Game 7 – Noon
Championship #2 (if necessary): Only if Winner of Game 7 wins Championship #1 – 2 p.m.
UMAC Tournament Web Site: http://umacathletics.com/tournaments/?id=104
Live Video/Stats: http://www.csssaints.com/ssn
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/csssoftball
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/csssaints
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/St-Scholastica-Softball-Fan-Page-257498654307193/
#1 St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 21-15, 14-2 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Last Action: The Saints captured their ninth consecutive and 19
th overall UMAC regular season title outright with a split over Crown College on Saturday … The Saints won the first game 7-1 thanks to three-hit performances from
Alexa Bremer (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) and
Toni Bishop (Roseville, Minn./Roseville HS) …
Chrisi Mizera (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East HS) did not allow an earned run in the victory … Game two saw the Saints fall to the Storm for the first time in program history by a score of 5-4.
Format Change: For the first time the tournament will be a five-team, double-elimination format … Last year was a five-team format as well, but No. 5 vs. No. 4 game was played on Monday with the winner advancing to the four-team double-elimination format.
UMAC Tournament History: For the first time as a host, St. Scholastica failed to win the UMAC Tournament last season, falling to the University of Wisconsin-Superior in the championship … Prior to losing to the University of Minnesota Morris in 2015, the Saints had won 17 straight UMAC Tournament games at Kenwood Field … In the last two years, the Saints have lost three postseason games at home … CSS has won 13 conference tournament titles all time, while UW-Superior, University of Northwestern (Minn.) and Bethany Lutheran College have each won just one title … Bethany Lutheran won its championship in 2013 when the tournament was moved away from Duluth to Morris, Minnesota because of weather … Northwestern has not won a conference tournament title since 1996.
Conference-Only Stats: Junior
Alexa Bremer (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) led the UMAC with 30 hits and was second in the league with a .517 batting average in conference games only … She also tied for the league lead with 10 stolen bases …
Hannah Borgeson (Woodville, Wis./Baldwin-Woodville HS) led the UMAC with eight doubles and was second with 19 RBIs …
Toni Bishop (Roseville, Minn./Roseville HS) led the conference with 10 walks
Big Innings: The Saints have outscored their opponents in the third inning this season 48-15 … CSS has scored at least 35 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.
Mizera's Pitching and Offense: Senior
Chrisi Mizera (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East HS) has not allowed more than four hits in eight conference starts this year … Northwestern handed Mizera her only conference loss during her four-year career on April 22 … The four earned runs allowed against the Eagles were her only runs allowed in conference play this season … Mizera also enters the tournament on a nine-game hitting streak … She has also reached base safely in 10 straight games … In league games, Mizera led the conference with a .526 batting average.
Tournament Participants
#2 Crown Storm
Record: 14-22, 12-4 UMAC
The Storm had their best conference finish in program history during the regular season, placing second overall … Crown had finished fourth the past two seasons … Prior to the 2015 season, the Storm had won a total of 20 games in the previous seven seasons, including four consecutive winless seasons … The Storm swept Northwestern and split with CSS, UWS and Bethany Lutheran during the regular season … In conference games, Lis King led the UMAC with eight home runs, 22 RBIs and 1.000 slugging percentage … In the pitcher's circle, she had 11 of the team's 12 conference victories … Janelle Williams tied for the conference lead with Bremer with 10 stolen bases, but led the league with 23 runs scored.
#3 Northwestern Eagles
Record: 16-18, 12-4 UMAC
The Eagles are making their fourth straight trip to the UMAC Tournament … It is also the fourth straight year the Eagles are the No. 3 seed in the tournament … Northwestern swept UWS and BLC, split with CSS and was swept by Crown during the regular season … In conference games only, Kaylee Forcier led the team with a .450 batting average and led the conference being hit-by-pitch six times … Colleen Feldheim had a team-high 17 RBIs followed closely by Megan Threlkeld with 16 RBIs … Lauren Silbernick led the pitching staff with a 1.33 earned run average … Abbie Nelson led the team with 18 strikeouts.
#4 UW-Superior Yellowjackets
Record: 16-15, 9-7 UMAC
The defending UMAC Tournament champion Yellowjackets will be the No. 4 seed in this year's tournament after capturing the title as the No. 2 seed in their first-ever UMAC Tournament last season … UWS was the last school to clinch a postseason spot, doing so on Saturday with two wins over North Central University (Minn.) … The 'jackets were swept by both CSS and Northwestern during the regular season, but split against Crown and BLC … In conference games, Superior did not have a single hitter ranked in the top 10 in batting average … Bailey Armstrong led the team with 13 RBIs, while Saige Patrick had a team-best .700 slugging percentage and 22 hits … Ciarra Taipale had a team-high six doubles and eight walks … Freshman Megan Pehrson led the pitching staff against conference hitters, ranking second in the UMAC in strikeouts (77) and tying for third in wins (7) … Pehrson had a 1.72 ERA and held hitters to a .195 average.
#5 Bethany Lutheran Vikings
Record: 14-22, 8-8 UMAC
The Vikings are making their first UMAC Tournament appearance since 2013 when they captured the tournament title as the No. 4 seed … Bethany Lutheran was swept by CSS and Northwestern during the regular season, but split with Crown and UWS … In conference games, pitcher Anna Pipenhagen led the league with 106 strikeouts and was second the league with eight wins and 0.93 earned run average … Offensively, the Vikings did not have a hitter rank in the top 10 in batting average … Christina Wickingson led the team with 20 hits … Katelyn Karels hit two home runs.
Series Records:
-CSS leads Crown 40-1
(Last Meeting: 5-4 Crown – 4/29/2017)
-CSS leads Northwestern 73-13
(Last Meeting: 4-2 UNW – 4/22/2017)
-CSS leads UWS 25-24
(Last Meeting: 9-1 CSS – 4/11/2017)
-CSS leads BLC 33-3
(Last Meeting: 3-0 CSS – 4/8/2017)
Postseason Histories: The Saints defeated Crown 8-0 in the only postseason meeting in 2015 /// St. Scholastica is 18-1 all-time in postseason play against Northwestern, including 15-0 all-time against the Eagles in the UMAC Tournament /// UW-Superior is 2-1 against the Saints in postseason poll with all three games occurring last season /// CSS is 1-1 all-time against Bethany Lutheran in the UMAC Tournament.
Looking Ahead: The winner of the UMAC Tournament receives the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament. The pairings of the NCAA Tournament will be announced on Monday at Noon on NCAA.com
