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| 2005 Record: 19-3 MIAC / 34-10 Overall |
| Last Week's Results: Saint Mary's 10, Eau Claire 2 / Details Saint Mary's 4, Eau Claire 2 / Details MIAC Tournament Saint Mary's 3, Gustavus 0 / Details St. Thomas 6, Saint Mary's 1 / Details Saint Mary's 1, Gustavus 0 / Details St. Thomas 3, Saint Mary's 0 / Details |
| This and That: The Cardinals' 34 wins are the most since SMU went 36-8 and placed fourth in the NCAA Division III National Championships in 2001. … SMU has now won 20 or more games in 12 straight seasons. … The Cardinals' appearance in the NCAA regional tournament is their first postseason appearance since 2001. … The Cardinals' Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) and Amy Edge (Montfort, Wis.) were named to the MIAC's all-tournament team. … Pitcher Jenny Schipp (North St. Paul, Minn.) went 4-1 in her five starts last week. Schipp gave up two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning of Game 1 vs. UW-EC last Wednesday, snapping her scoreless inning streak at 30.0 innings. … … Schipp's back-to-back shutouts vs. Gustauvs in the MIAC Tournament give her a school-record eight shutouts. … Schipp's 22 wins - including a streak of 16 straight wins that was snapped with Friday's 6-1 loss to St. Thomas - rank her second all time, just two behind school record-holder Kelly King (24 wins in 1997) . … Jenni Gutterman (Shoreview, Minn.) enters the regional tournament as the team's offensive leader in virtually every category, including average (.369), at-bats (149), runs (30), hits (55), triples (2), total bases (68), on-base percentage (.434) and stolen bases (26). … Gutterman also has put together a season-high nine-game hitting streak and has a team-best 18 multiple-hit games. … Jung leads the team with 32 RBIs and a .495 slugging percentage, while Edge is the team's HR leader with five. … SMU has not lost more than two games in a row all season, and boasts winning streaks of 13 and seven games. … The Cardinals are unbeaten this season when scoring three or more runs (29-0) and are 27-3 when scoring first. … SMU has not lost when leading after the third inning. … The Cardinals were a perfect 10-0 at home. |
to earn spot in six-team NCAA Division IIII Seed 1 regional
WINONA, Minn. - Minutes after St. Thomas eliminated the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, coach Nikki Fennern admitted that her team's chances of landing a berth into the NCAA regional field weren't very good.
Saint Mary's vs.
Fontbonne, 10 a.m.
Coe vs.
UW-Stout, Noon
Washington U. vs.
Game 1 winner, 2 p.m.
St. Thomas vs.
Game 2 winner, 4 p.m.
bracket / click here
"We've done everything we can, now our fate rests in the committee's hands," Fennern said following their 3-0 loss to the Tommies in the title game. "I'm hopeful, but I'm also realistic - there's a chance, but it's pretty slim."
As long as there was a chance, however, Fennern held out hope.
Monday morning, hope turned to jubilation, as Fennern learned her Cardinals had beaten the odds and earned one of the nation's two at-large berths.
Their season is anything but over.
"It's a huge relief," said Fennern, whose team will take its 34-10 record into the No. 1 Seed Regional in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "It's hard to put into words how I'm feeling right now. It feels pretty good to think that only two teams in the entire nation receive at-large bids, and we were one of them.
"I'm so proud of the way this team has performed this year - it's been a great ride."
And the ride is just beginning.
SMU, which will be making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2001, when Fennern - in her first season as head coach - guided the Cardinals to a fourth-place finish in the national championships.
And, on top of that, the Cardinals could get another shot at the Tommies, who handed SMU both of its conference tournament losses last weekend - and have been a major thorn in the Cardinals' side ever since Saint Mary's handed UST a 1-0 loss at the 2001 regional tournament.
"St. Thomas has been our nemesis over the years, and it would be nice to be able to get another shot at them," said Fennern, whose team dropped a 6-1 decision to the Tommies in Friday's winner's bracket game and fell 3-0 to UST in the title game. "When you look at our season, we've got six in-region losses, and four of them are to St. Thomas. Give (UST) a lot of credit, they are a very good team. I think we proved in the championship game that we can play with them - but now we've got to take that next step."
That next step, however, will have to wait - the Cardinals must first take care of first-round foe Fontbonne in Friday's opening-round game.
"We're approaching this tournament the same way we approached (the MIAC Tournament) - one game at a time," said Fennern, whose Cardinals are the No. 4 seed in the six-team regional and will face No. 5-seeded Fontbonne, while No. 3-seed and host Coe will square off against No. 6 UW-Stout in the other first-round game. Top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Washington (Mo.) University awaits the SMU-Fontbonne winner, while No. 2 seed St. Thomas will square off against the Coe-UW-Stout victor in the second round. "We've got to go out and first get the job done against Fontbonne - that's all we are worried right now."
"If everything works out, there's no doubt – we would love to get another crack at the Tommies."
And, Fennern hopes, finally pull that thorn out of their side.