Defending national title no mission impossible for Fennern, Cardinals

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — When it comes to NCAA Division III national tournament experience, the Saint Mary’s University fastpitch softball team can’t hold a candle to teams like Ithaca and Central.

With 17 combined years of reaching Division III’s Elite Eight, the Bombers and the Dutch are certainly the veterans of this year’s tournament field.

Yet, despite all those trips to the tournament’s final field of eight, it’s the Cardinal players who have something members from Ithaca, Central — and North Central, Muskingum, Roanoke, William Paterson and Wheaton, for that matter — so desperately want.

A national championship ring.

“All season teams have been gunning for us, and we know it’s not going to be any different at the national tournament,” said SMU’s Jennifer Miller (Winona, Minn.), an all-national tournament selection a year ago and one of eight regulars returning from last year’s national championship team. “We know we have a big, red target on our backs — it’s been there all year. “We just go out there and do what we have to do, and not worry whether or not other teams are trying to knock us off.”

And it’s an attitude — confident, but certainly not cocky — that has helped guide the Cardinals through the many pitfalls that can come with being the nation’s defending champion.

“This team has been so focused all season,” said SMU coach Nikki Fennern, whose team will put its 10-game post-season winning streak on the line Thursday, when it opens play against Wheaton (Mass.). “They are so calm and so poised that nothing seems to faze them.”

Not even an early-season four-game losing streak — the Cardinals’ longest such slide since the 1996 season.

“It wasn’t like we were playing poorly, we just couldn’t catch any breaks along the way,” admitted Fennern, whose team snapped out of its four-game funk with a 1-0 win over conference rival St. Thomas — and promptly won the next 22 in a row and 28 of its last 29. “But they never got rattled, and that is really what defines this team. No matter what happens, you can’t rattle them — they’ve been on a mission all season.”

And with four more victories, it will be mission accomplished — for a second consecutive season.

“I think (getting back to the national finals) has been harder this year,” admitted sophomore second baseman Nikki Lynch (Winona, Minn.), who played a key role in the Cardinals’ regional run — going 3-for-7 with two doubles and three RBIs. “Because we made it last year, everyone expected us to do it again.”

Everyone, including themselves.

“From Day 1, from our very first goal-setting meeting in November, this team’s No. 1 goal has been to get back here to defend its title,” said Fennern, whose Cardinals earned their second straight national-tournament appearance with three straight wins at the Seed 2 Regional — a 1-0 win over co-MIAC champion St. Thomas, and 8-3 and 1-0 victories over host Wartburg. “They’ve accomplished that.”

Now there’s one mission remaining.

“There’s no question we are as talented as any team in the tournament,” said Fennern. “When we are playing at the top of our game, which we are right now, we’re pretty tough to beat.”

Just ask St. Thomas and Wartburg.

“We had one bad inning (at this year’s regional tournament),” admitted Fennern, referring to SMU’s two-error, three-unearned-run meltdown in the fourth inning of its 8-3 win over Wartburg. “And, fortunately, we had the offense and the pitching to overcome that. But now, the stakes are raised — when you get to this level, you can’t afford any bad innings.”

Not that Fennern expects any.

“As a coach, you’re never completely satisfied,” admitted the Cardinals’ first-year head coach, the youngest in this year’s national tournament field. “I’ll always find something I think we need to improve on. But right now, there isn’t too much I’d want to change about this team.”

The offense is hitting a whopping .333 — led by four-time All-American Jill Hocking (Apple Valley, Minn.) (.440, 51 hits, 12 doubles, 5 triples, 4 HRs, .733 slugging percentage), Jennifer Meyer (Oconomowoc, Wis.) (.372, 45 hits, 39 runs, 31 RBIs, 20 stolen bases) and Gina Rizzardi (Woodbury, Minn.) (.369, 41 hits, 18 RBIs) — the pitching staff boasts a microscopic 0.90 ERA and the defense ’s .974 fielding percentage is the best in the nation.

It really is hard to find a chink in the Cardinals’ armor.

Which means dethroning the defending national champs could be this year’s mission impossible.