CARDINAL FASTPITCH SOFTBALL HOME
(http://sports.smumn.edu/softball)
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2005 Final Records:
19-3 MIAC, 37-12 Overall
Upcoming Events:
Thurs.-Sun., March 16-19: SMU at Sun West
Tournament, Orange, Calif.
Cardinal News and Notes:
SMU's Jenni Gutterman (Shoreview, Minn.) was named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Region Second Team, while Jenny Schipp (North St. Paul, Minn.) was a third-team selections. … Gutterman and Schipp were named to the All-MIAC team for the second year in a row. … SMU's third-place finish at the NCAA Seed 1 Regional was its first NCAA postseason appearance since 2001, when the Cardinals placed fourth in the NCAA World Series. … The Cardinals' 37 wins were the most since 2000, when SMU went 40-6 en route to its first-ever NCAA national championship. … Gutterman was the team's offensive spark plug a year ago, leading the Cardinals in virtually every offensive category from the lead-off spot. Gutterman hit a team-leading .369, while also boasting team-highs in runs (33), hits (62), triples (2) on-base percentage (.427) and stolen bases (27). Her 49 games played and 168 at-bats were single-season records, while her 62 hits rank second to Jen Garins' school-record 72 hits in 1997. She also had 21 muiltiple-hit games and boasted a season-best nine-game hitting streak. … Schipp boasted a team-leading 1.80 earned-run-average and a 25-7 record in 35 pitching appearances. She threw 179 innings, allowing just 46 earned runs, while walking 55 and striking out 190. Schipp's 25 wins, 179 innings and nine shutouts are all single-season records, while her 190 strikeouts are a career-high and rank No. 2 all-time behind Kelly King's 286 in 1997. …Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) was the team-leader in RBIs with 37 and posted nine multiple-RBI games. … SMU finished the season unbeaten when leading after three innings (24-0) and were 27-2 when committing one error or less. … The Cardinals put together winning streaks of 13 and seven, and never lost more than two games in a row.
After returning to NCAA's postseason spotlight
a year ago, Cardinals are hungry for more in 2006

WINONA, Minn. — In her first year as the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball coach, Nikki Fennern guided the Cardinals to a fourth-place finish in the 2001 NCAA Division III World Series.

Over the next three seasons, the Cardinals found themselves in an unfamiliar position — on the outside looking in when postseason play began.

Then came the 2005 season.

The Cardinals appeared in their first-ever Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, and earned one of the two at-large berths into the NCAA regional tournament — only to have their post-season run halted by top-ranked Washington (Mo.) University, which beat SMU twice in the double-elimination Seed 1 Tournament.

For Fennern and the Cardinals, however, being back in the post-season mix was nice — but it's not enough.

“I told our team last fall that its good to be happy about what we accomplished last season,” said Fennern, whose 2005 team boasted three All-MIAC and three All-Region selections. “But don't be satisfied. Qualifying for the MIAC Tournament and reaching the regionals was nice – but now we want to take that next step.”

To do that, Fennern will first have to replace the entire right side of her infield, not to mention finding a replacement for four-year starter Amy Edge behind the plate.

“We've definitely got some holes to fill," admitted Fennern, who graduated five off of last year's team, but does return All-MIAC and All-Region selections Jenny Schipp (North St. Paul, Minn.) and Jenni Gutterman (Shoreview, Minn.) — who are both coming off career seasons a year ago. "But from what I've seen thus far, we've got a lot of options.

"There's going to be some shuffling around, especially early in the season," added Fennern, whose team — ranked No. 15 in the NFCA Preseason Poll — kicks off its season at the Sun West (Calif.) Tournament March 16-19. "We've got a number of people who can play more than one position, so right now it's just a matter how fitting all the pieces together."

One piece that is firmly in place in Schipp on the mound. A two-time all-conference and all-region selection, Schipp boasted a team-leading 1.80 earned-run-average a year ago, while also striking out 190 batters in 179 innings.

"Pitching will be key for us this year," said Fennern, who will also be looking for Megan Wallisch (Loveland, Colo.) and Erin Leone (Farmington, Minn.) to shoulder some of the pitching load — allowing Schipp to fill in at first, second or in the outfield. "Jenny's going to be the workhorse, but Megan and Erin are going to have to be able to give us a lot of solid innings.

"I'm excited about the season," continued Fennern. "We're approaching this year in much the same way we approached last season — hopefully we can take it one step further this year."