Shortstop Jenna Hoffman’s strong at-bats helped the No. 9-ranked St. Thomas softball team (38-5, 25-0) brave the elements in the MIAC playoff tournament and secure an automatic NCAA tournament bid after defeating Bethel Sunday morning.
The Tommies play Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) in the opening round of the NCAA Division III tournament announced Monday morning.
Coach John Tschida said winning the tournament was a feat given the conditions.
“You win that many in a row it’s an accomplishment just in preparation mentally and physically,” Tschida said.
St. Thomas started the weekend Friday afternoon with an 11-0 victory over Macalester in the first round of pool play. Hoffman cranked a homer to center field in the bottom of the first to put the Tommies on the board early. Pitcher Morgan Murphy and Kendra Bowe pitched a combined shutout.
For outfielder Alyssa Nelson, the team’s tournament success is a confidence booster.
“I’m just a freshman so coming in it’s really cool to see the actual meaning of Tommie softball and how they all get together and they all become a team,” Nelson said. “Being able to come into this tournament and win it is just really cool.”
In the second round of pool play, the Tommies faced St. Catherine (16-17) in a thriller on Friday night. After Wildcat centerfielder Alyssa Luedtke’s RBI in the top of the third, Tommie centerfielder Bianca Peterson fired back with a homer in the bottom half of the third. It wasn’t until first baseman Erin Mussett homered to left field in the bottom of the fifth and sealed St. Thomas’ 6-2 win.
Peterson said the team’s work ethic is what pushed it to victory.
“It’s proof that we work really hard … and what Tschida has us do is working and we just got to keep playing our game and keep going,” Peterson said. “We definitely have talent on the team; this kind of solidifies the hard work that we’ve done.”
On Saturday, St. Thomas got off to a bang with against Gustavus in an 8-0 victory. With a homer to left center in the bottom of the second, Peterson paved the way for Hoffman, who homered to right center shortly after. In the bottom of the sixth, second baseman Kimmy Hassel ripped a single up the middle, with Hoffman advancing to third.
Saturday night produced a thriller between St. Thomas and Bethel. The Tommies had to strike back after Bethel shortstop Angie Jackson homered to center field. Tommie shortstop Mary Rentz fired back in the bottom of the third with a homer to left center. The game went into extra innings where catcher Emily Gregory’s home run to the left gave the Tommies a 3-2 win.
For right-handed pitcher Alyssa Dunrud, the Tommies had a purpose throughout the course of the tournament.
“We just wanted to play softball and play to win,” Dunrud said. “We just put all the pieces together (and) knew that we had to go pitch-by-pitch and not think too far ahead.”
After the team’s close finish with Bethel Saturday, the Tommies faced the Royals in the championship game Sunday morning. Murphy pitched five innings until Bowe relieved her to secure the Tommies’ MIAC playoff title. Hoffman contributed two homers.
The team went on to clinch its 10th straight MIAC title with a 8-1 final score.
Tschida said the team needs to continue to do what it has all season.
“We just got to keep doing what we’re doing, swing the bats well,” Tschida said. “You’re always looking to play the highest level of softball the team can play day in, day out … you don’t really try to do much more than that just try and be as good as you can be at the end of the year.”
Sean Crotty can be reached at crot0230@stthomas.edu.