Cardinals' Jackie Huegel is playing like
a seasoned veteran, as SMU nears title

SALEM, Va. — She plays the most visable position on the field — shortstop.

She hits in the most crucial positons in the batting order — No. 4.

And she plays with the poise and confidence of a player who's been to the NCAA Division III Softball Championships year-in and year-out.

She hasn't.

In fact, before this season, Jackie Huegel had never even played a collegiate fastpitch softball game.

That's right, the main cog in both the Cardinals' air-tight defensive unit, and their highly-explosive offensive corps, is just a freshman.

That's right, a freshman entered Saturday's third day of the national championships leading the national tournament in batting average (.667), hits (4), doubles (2), triples (1) and slugging percentage (1.333).

That's right, a freshman is turning those seeing-eye singles into routine ground-ball outs.

That's right, a freshman has the Cardinals one win away from the school's first-ever national title.

"Jackie has had an outstanding year," praised SMU coach John Tschida of his first-team All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and second-team All-Midwest Region selection. "She has come through with some great defensive plays — the type of plays that win ball games — and has really come up with some big hits at crucial times."

The freshman gave The College of New Jersey a double dose of Huegel on Friday, collecting three hits in three at-bats, driving in two runs and scoring once, while also making several acrobatic defensive plays, as SMU won 7-0.

As an encore, Huegel went 1-for-3 with a one-out single in the fourth, and was perfect in the field, finishing with a pair of putouts, in the Cardinals' 4-3 win over Chapman on Saturday.

"A lot has been made about Teisha's pitching performances," said Tschida of his senior right-handed pitcher Teisha Smith, who has pitched all but one inning in the post-season for the Cardinals. "But I wouldn't say she's carrying us. More like she's pulling us along — because she's not striking out 17 batters (a game) or anything like that. She's putting the ball in play and our defense is doing its job.

"Jackie has been phenomenal in the playoffs," continued Tschida of his shortstop, who has been flawless in the field in Salem, recording seven putouts and adding four assists. "She made four major plays (against The College of New Jersey) that could have easily turned the game (in the Lions' favor).

"She's certainly not playing like a freshman."

You certainly don't have to tell that to the other seven teams in the tournament field.

• ON THE RUN: The Cardinals stole a pair of bases in four tries against Chapman, showing a side of their game that Tschida hadn't kept under wraps the first two games of the tournament.

"I told the ladies after the game that, win or lose, we were going to be aggressive on the base paths," Tschida said. "There are too many good teams in this tournament to be conservative. Sure, by being as aggressive as we were, there was a good chance we could end up looking pretty stupid. But there's also a good chance we could come out smelling pretty good."

They smell just fine.

• THE WAITING CONTINUES: For the third straight day, the Cardinals' game against Chapman Saturday started late. Thursday's opening-round game started an hour late, while Friday's second-rounder against The College of New Jersey was delayed by nearly three hours due to rain and lightning. And SMU's third-round matchup with Chapman got pushed back one hour, due to UW-Eau Claire's 15-inning 3-2 win over Roanoke and Alma's 4-3, eight-inning win against The College of New Jersey.

• BIG WINNERS: The top three winningest pitchers in NCAA Division III are in this year's championships — Chapman's Janet Lloyd (.820), SMU's John Tschida (.811) and Alma's Denny Griffin (.739).

• TAKE TWO: With Saturday's win, the Cardinals must be beaten twice in order for either Chapman or Alma to win the national title. The Cardinals had lost two straight earlier this season, but have not lost two straight to the same team in the last four years.