UMAC softball tournament sees close games, high-scoring affairs on day one Friday
DULUTH, Minn.---The opening day of the 2017 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) softball tournament saw the defending tournament champion No. 4-seeded University of Wisconsin-Superior get eliminated after losses to No. 5 Bethany Lutheran College and No. 3 University of Northwestern, while No. 1 College of St. Scholastica and No. 2 Crown College both earned shutout victories to kick off the five-team double elimination playoff tourney Thursday.
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Tournament Site |
Game One |
Game Two |
Game Three |
Game Four |
Game 1 - No. 5 Bethany Lutheran defeats No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior, 5-4 |
Box Score |
No. 5 Bethany Lutheran may be the most-improved UMAC team from a year ago and used a solid 8-8 record to earn a berth to the tournament. In a must-win situation, the Vikings split a regular season contest with Wisconsin-Superior making the opening game of the new-format tournament one with promist from the get-go.
After 2.5 solid innings of defense, No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior took the first lead of the game scoring once in both the third and fourth innings. The Vikings needed two more innings before answering in the sixth as Katelyn Karels smacked a two-RBI double to tied the game at 2-2 before Kendra Porath and Rachel Kurtenbach plated two more giving the Vikings a 4-2 advantage.
The Yellowjackets would cut the lead to 4-3 on an RBI single from Katie White in the bottom of the inning. However, Samantha Meginbir hit an RBI single to start off the seventh and pressuring the Yellowjackets to score in the bottom half. Kayla Hartl doubled to bring in Bailey Kinnunen, but the Yellowjackets came up short allowing Bethany Lutheran to advance to take on the top-seeded Saints.
For the Vikings, Kurtenbach and Christina Wickingson led with two hits a piece and Anna Pipenhagen pitched a complete game for her 15th win of the season. Megan Pehrson struck out nine in 5.1 innings pitched for the Yellowjackets, while Hartl went 3-for-4 to lead her squad at the plate.
Game 2 - No. 2 Crown defeats No. 3 Northwestern, 7-0 |
Box Score |
Early in the conference season, No. 2 Crown swept No. 3 Northwestern, but both ended with 12-4 UMAC records and were the only two league teams to defeat No. 1 St. Scholastica this year. On paper, the third meeting between the two should have been a close contest, but Crown managed to tally 15 hits en route to a decisive 7-0 win.
Any momentum the Eagles had to start the game ended quickly when Megan Threlkeld lined into a triple play giving Crown a boost of confidence heading to bat in the bototm of the first. It showed as the Storm scored three times on RBI hits from Kate McLaughlin and Olivia Dols to take an early lead.
Lis King added to her outstanding numbers at the plate this season with RBI singles in the second and fourth innings to push the Storm lead to five. Following King's RBI in the fourth, Cassidy Valenzuela smacked a two-run home run over the left center field fence making it 7-0 in favor of the Storm.
In addition to King, Valenzuela, McLaughlin and Dols, Samantha Collins also collected a pair of hits for the Storm, while Janelle Williams went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. King also struck out seven in her complete game shutout. Mindy Forcier led the Eagle effort with two hits.
Game 3 - No. 1 St. Scholastica defeats No. 5 Bethany Lutheran, 21-0 (5 innings) |
Box Score |
After a solid offensive effort to guarantee a spot in the second day of the tournament, the No. 5 Vikings faced a tough test in taking on a rested No. 1 St. Scholastica squad. In their regular season meetings, the Saints tallied just five runs in both games. Friday was a different story though as the Saints' bats got hot early to help them earn a date with Crown Friday.
The game started off with a scoreless first inning, but the Saints didn't take long to get going tallying nine runs in the bottom of the second off eight hits. One of the league's top players in Alexa Bremer brought the Saints to oduble-digits with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third. The Saints then added 12 runs in the bottom of the fourth before getting three outs to end the game in the fifth.
Saints' pitcher Chrisi Mizera allowed just one hit in her four innings of work and struckout five of the 13 batters she faced. She also went 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs and an RBI. Maggie Schley led the Saints with four hits in ehr four at bats adding three runs. Olivia Bretting, Hannah Borgeson and Carley Moisio each added two hits in the effort. Porath recorded the lone hit for the Vikings.
Game 4 - No. 3 Northwestern defeats No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior, 5-4 (8 innings) |
Box Score |
With two teams facing elimination, the final game of the day did not disappoint between two evenly matched teams that played close games in the regular season. After a run-filled opening inning, defense came to life for both No. 3 Northwestern and No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior ensuring extra innings would be needed to decide the winner.
Wisconsin-Superior wasted no time getting going in the top of the first with three runs on RBI singles from White, Bailey Armstrong and Maggie Cragg. Northwestern responded to the pressure and raised the stakes tallying four runs in the bottom of the inning with Threlked, Jannifer Ankrom, Ellen Larkin and Ann Lokke each picking up credit for the RBIs.
The Eagles managed to hold their narrow 4-3 lead until the top of the fifth when Saige Patrick scored on a RBI ground out from Kinnunen. A crucial stop from both teams to get third outs in the seventh forced the game into an eighth. Despite a bunt single from Cragg, the Yellowjackets couldn't score and needed to come up with a stop to remain alive. Singles from Threlkeld and Larkin set the stage for Lokke who recorded the walk-off single to help the Eagles play on for one more day and send the Yellowjackets home early.
The victorius Eagles were led by Lokke with three hits including the game-winner, while Larkin, Threlkeld and Forcier each tallied two. Lauren Silbernick picked up the win on the mound for the Eagles, while Pehrson struck out five batters in the loss for the Yellowjackets. Patrick and White each had three hits for Wisconsin-Superior.
Friday will see No. 1 St. Scholastica face No. 2 Crown at 12 p.m. in a game that guarantees the winner a pass on to championship Saturday. Game five pits No. 3 Northwestern against No. 5 Bethany Lutheran in another elimination game at 2 p.m., while the final game of the day will see the loser of the first game face the winner of the second in an elimination game.
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the
UMAC Softball Playoffs page. Keep up with all of the tournament action on
Twitter and
Instagram using
#UMACchamp.
Playoff Schedule
Thursday, May 4 (Day One)
Game 1 – 10 a.m. No. 5 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior, 5-4 |
Box Score |
UWS Recap |
BLC Recap |
Game 2 – 12 p.m. No. 2 Crown def. No. 3 Northwestern, 7-0 |
Box Score |
CC Recap |
UNW Recap |
Game 3 – 2 p.m. No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 5 Bethany Lutheran, 21-0 |
Box Score |
CSS Recap |
BLC Recap |
Game 4 – 4 p.m. No. 3 Northwestern def. No. 4 Wisconsin-Superior, 5-4 |
Box Score |
UNW Recap |
UWS Recap |
Friday, May 5 (Day Two)
Game 5 – 12 p.m. No. 1 St. Scholastica vs. No. 2 Crown |
Live Broadcast |
Game 6 – 2 p.m. No. 3 Northwestern vs. No. 5 Bethany Lutheran |
Live Broadcast |
Game 7 – 4 p.m. Loser of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6 |
Live Broadcast |
Saturday, May 6 (Day Three)
Game 8 – 12 p.m. Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 7 |
Live Broadcast |
Game 9 – 2 p.m. If necessary – same teams as Game 8 |
Live Broadcast |
Event Information
The UMAC five-team tournament has the following set admissions prices: Single Day Adult Ticket, $10; Single Day Student/Senior Ticket - $5; Adult Tournament Pass, $15; Student/Senior Tournament Pass, $7. All UMAC students, staff and faculty are FREE with valid institution ID to all games. No other passes will be accepted.
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the
UMAC Softball Playoffs page. Keep up with all of the tournament action on
Twitter and
Instagram using
#UMACchamp.
2017 Tournament Page