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Senior pitchers Cassie Smith and Biz Sitzmann allowed only one combined run over a two-game span as the top-seeded St. Thomas softball team (38-4) defeated fourth-seed Hamline 7-0 and second-seed Gustavus 3-1 at home Friday afternoon in the MIAC playoffs.

The victories improved the Tommies’ winning streak to 28 games, and the team will face the winner of an elimination game between Gustavus and St. Mary’s at home Saturday afternoon.

“It’s just one game at a time,” coach John Tschida said. “You hear that cliche, but really that’s what good teams do. They focus on the next pitch … make an error, you say, ‘next.’ You don’t get emotional, you stay analytical.

“We know that any team in the league, not just the first, second, third or fourth place team, is good enough to beat us,” Tschida said. “At the same time, we know we can beat everybody. So we just have to bring our ‘A’ game all the time.”

In the first game, the Tommies brought their “A” game right from the start, using freshman Emily Gregory’s two-run first-inning home run to jump to an early 2-0 lead. For Gregory, it was her eighth home run in her last 11 games.

“Emily Gregory has had a great couple of weeks here. She’s had a great year, but if you watch her you wouldn’t guess that she’s having a great year based on how she really works on getting better with her swing,” Tschida said. “Kind of like a Tiger Woods when he was leading the nation in golf. He was plugging away trying to get a better swing, and that’s kind of what she’s been like in practice.”

After a scoreless second inning, the Tommies batted through their lineup in the third inning, compiling a total of 10 hits. Senior Erica Wilson and junior Kayla Boward had two hits apiece, and St. Thomas added five runs to make the score 7-0.

Smith, who threw a three-hit shutout, credited the Tommies’ offense for easing her nerves.

“After we scored that first run it’s like, ‘okay, now all I have to do is my job,’” Smith said. “I feel like a lot of nerves just go. Everyone feels a lot more comfortable, and then everyone just excels from there.”

Tschida said despite not having all of her “stuff” going for her, Smith pitched a solid game.

“She didn’t by far have her best day,” Tschida said. “In fact, she wasn’t throwing hard and a lot of her stuff wasn’t working. We always say, ‘the great ones do the best they can with what they have, and they’re still successful.’ That’s what she did today.”

Smith said the outing got her “back on track” after a tough last conference game against St. Olaf.

“It was nice to feel like I was hitting my spots and throwing things consistently,” Smith said. “Now I feel like I can really just build from here and really get a lot of stuff going. Today felt great.”

Game Two: Strong fourth inning boosts Tommies over Gusties

After an hour layoff in between games, the Tommies showed some early signs of rust.

Held scoreless through the first two innings, St. Thomas found itself in a familiar position after Sitzmann allowed Jen Ulmen to hit a lead-off home run in the third inning to gain a one-run advantage.

“Our team is used to playing behind,” Tschida said. “We don’t flinch when we’re behind. It’s kind of like, ‘All right, let’s keep pounding away.’”

Sitzmann said despite being a little nervous, she was confident in the offense’s ability to score runs.

“I have a great offense that will score. We’re a big hitting team,” Sitzmann said. “As a pitcher who doesn’t hit, it’s awesome to watch them. We’re all in sync right now.”

In the bottom of the fourth, Sitzmann got the run support she needed when the Tommies rallied off three of their runs. Wilson walked and took second on a Sydney Marquardt single that led to Gregory’s game-tying RBI double off the left field fence. Sophomore Megan Sitek’s sacrifice fly scored Marquardt on a play at the plate, and freshman Erin Musset added a pinch-hit RBI single to give the Tommies a 3-1 lead.

“Their pitcher did a nice job of mixing it up,” Tschida said. “But when she made a couple of mistakes, our hitters took advantage of it.”

Sitzmann threw a four-hitter, striking out four batters and walking one. She retired the last 12 of 13 batters she faced.

“She just made one mistake,” Tschida said. “She’s effective but is still going to give up some hits. Our defense played pretty well, and she’s kind of used to staying poised and executing pitches.”

If the Tommies loses their 1:30 contest tomorrow, they could potentially play two additional games. The MIAC playoffs are double-elimination, and St. Thomas is the only unbeaten team remaining.

Ryan Shaver can be reached at Shav7005@stthomas.edu.