DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – With the cold, snowy weather across the upper Midwest this spring, the St. Scholastica softball will hopefully try to squeeze in games the last two weeks of this regular season and it starts with a slew of home games starting on Wednesday on the turf.
Where:
Saints Field – Duluth, Minn.
When:
Wednesday vs. North Central (Minn.) – 3:30 p.m. (DH)
Thursday vs. Northwestern (Minn.) – 3:30 p.m. (DH)
Saturday vs. Crown – 1 p.m. (DH) – Kenwood Field (PPD-4/29)
Sunday vs. Martin Luther – 11 a.m. (DH)
Live Video: http://www.csssaints.com/watch
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/css/softball/
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: 8-9, 2-0 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
What You Need to Know about the Saints:
-The Saints are coming off a doubleheader sweep of the University of Minnesota Morris last week in their conference opening games.
-CSS trailed for most of game one before plating 14 runs between the fifth and sixth innings to win by mercy-rule in six innings.
-It scored 27 runs between the two wins.
-Senior
Cindi Rydlund (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) had five hits in the doubleheader and has reached base safely in 12 straight games.
-Rydlund ranks second in the conference with a .412 batting average
-Freshman
Madison Harris (Billings, Mont./Billings West HS) also had five hits in the doubleheader.
-Junior
Maggie Schley (Mounds View, Minn./Irondale HS) had seven RBIs in the two wins.
-Schley ranks second in the UMAC with 19 RBIs.
-Among UMAC teams, the Saints are tied for the conference lead with a .294 batting average and lead the league with a .386 slugging percentage and a .370 on-base percentage.
-The Saints also lead the conference with 44 stolen bases.
-CSS ranks 14
th in NCAA Division III with 2.6 stolen bases per game.
-
Heidi Shelton (Duluth, Minn./Proctor HS (St. Cloud Tech and CC)) earned the win in game one of last week's doubleheader; she leads the conference with a 1.93 earned run average.
-The Saints are 7-0 when they out-hit the opponent, but 0-8 when they get out-hit.
-On the turfed Saints Field, CSS is 4-0 all-time with a doubleheader sweep of Northland College in 2013 and a doubleheader sweep of Bethany Lutheran College in 2014.
-CSS has played the fewest conference games of the nine teams.
-As of the time of this preview, 46 league games or 23 doubleheaders need to be made up in the next 13 days.
What You Need to Know about North Central:
-The Rams will enter Wednesday contest with a 7-17 overall record and 1-7 in league play.
-The lone UMAC victory was a 5-2 triumph over Northland College.
-NCU enters on a six-game losing streak.
-The Rams lead the conference with eight triples.
-However, they have committed the most errors in the league (57).
-Amanda Roth leads the team in just about every offensive category with a .616 slugging percentage, 33 hits and 10 doubles.
-Ellee Laws leads the conference with five triples.
-Emma Bushey has thrown a conference-high 87.1 innings.
Series Record: CSS leads 13-0
(Last Meeting: 32-2 CSS – 4/5/2017)
Series History: The Saints have scored at least 14 runs in each of the last five meetings and have scored at least 12 runs in 11 of the 13 meetings all-time.
What You Need to Know about Northwestern:
-The Eagles will host Crown College on Wednesday before facing the Saints Thursday.
-Northwestern is currently 15-11 overall and 4-2 in conference play.
-UNW is coming off a sweep of Bethany Lutheran College last week.
-The Eagles have scored 140 runs, the most in the conference.
-They also lead the conference with the lowest team ERA at 3.81 and opposing batting average (.299).
-Ellie Ronning leads all conference players with a .670 slugging percentage, 37 hits and 12 doubles.
-Kayla Madison has a team-high 26 RBIs.
-Lexi Kopacek leads the pitching staff with eight wins and a 3.22 ERA.
Series Record: CSS leads 74-13
(Last Meeting: 7-1 CSS – 5/6/2017)
Series History: The last time the Saints and Eagles met was in last year's UMAC Tournament Championship game … Northwestern ended an eight-game losing streak to the Saints with a doubleheader split during the regular season in St. Paul.
What You Need to Know about Crown:
-Other than CSS, Crown is the only other conference unbeaten at 6-0.
-The Storm are scheduled to face Northwestern Wednesday before taking on the Saints Saturday.
-They have won seven straight games, but have played the three bottom-ranked teams in the league during that span.
-Crown leads the UMAC with a .299 team batting average, 39 doubles and a .397 slugging percentage.
-The reigning UMAC Player of the Year, Lis King leads the UMAC with five home runs and ranks second in the conference with a .647 slugging percentage and 21 RBIs.
-King is third in the conference with a 3.17 earned run average.
-King and Olivia Christopherson both rank in the top five of the conference in strikeouts.
-Cassidy Valenzuela has a team-best .418 batting average and is second in the conference with a 22 runs scored and three triples.
Series Record: CSS leads 41-1
(Last Meeting: 3-0 CSS – 5/5/2017)
Series History: The Saints defeated the Storm in the UMAC Tournament semifinals last season … In last year's regular season finale, Crown defeated the Saints for the first time, 5-4 in St. Bonifacius.
What You Need to Know about Martin Luther:
-The Knights are 3-9 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
-These games have been scheduled to be played in New Ulm, but the weather has forced the move to Duluth and to play on the turf.
-MLC is scheduled to play Northwestern on Saturday before taking on the Saints on Sunday.
-Martin Luther is coming off a doubleheader sweep of North Central last week.
-The 12 games MLC has played is the fewest amongst conference teams.
-Audrey Timm leads the team with .436 batting average.
-Kayla Rosenbaum has a .622 slugging percentage.
-Morgan Palubicki has two of the team's three wins in the pitching circle.
Series Record: CSS leads 61-7
(Last Meeting: 3-0 CSS – 4/15/2017)
Series History: The Saints swept the Knights last year at Kenwood Field with a pair of shutouts of 9-0 and 8-0 … CSS has blanked MLC three of the last four meetings.
UMAC Preseason Poll
1. St. Scholastica - 61 points (6 First Place Votes)
2. Crown - 53 points (1 First Place Vote)
3. Northwestern - 51 points (1 First Place Vote)
4. Wisconsin-Superior - 47 points (1 First Place Vote)
5. Bethany Lutheran - 38 points
6. Minnesota Morris - 27 points
7. Martin Luther - 23 points
8. Northland - 16 points
9. North Central - 8 points
Looking Ahead: The Saints are scheduled to play at Northland College next Tuesday.
