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PREVIEW: Softball hopes to be unfazed by Change of Venue of UMAC Tournament

| By: Mike LaValley
DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica softball team earned the No. 1 seed in this weekend's Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament and will face No. 4 seed Bethany Lutheran on Friday noon. 

*The tournament has a double elimination format and the winner will head to the NCAA Tournament with the UMAC's Automatic Qualifier Bid.  CSS was supposed to host the tournament, but due to inclement weather it has been moved to Minnesota Morris.

Game Day Media
Tournament Web Site | Live Stats vs. Bethany Only

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About the Saints
24-12, 17-4 UMAC

  • CSS is coming off a dominant sweep of Northland College on Senior Day, winning by scores of 14-5 and 13-1.
  • The Saints captured their fifth consecutive UMAC regular season championship and their 14th in the last 15 seasons.
  • The Saints, who hold the No. 1 seed, had only two home games this season and they were played on the turf field this past Wednesday.
  • For the first time since the 2008 season, the Saints lost more than two regular season conference games. That was also the last time the Saints did not win the conference tournament.
  • Rendi Johnson (Bonney Lake, Wash./Bonney Lake HS) paces the Saints on offense with a .418 batting average and holds team highs in RBIs (32) and slugging percentage (.736).
  • Nikki Logergren (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Denfeld HS (Northern Stars)) and Sydney Gordon (International Falls, Minn./Falls HS) have both hit above .400 on the year from the plate.
  • Kasandra McCabe (St. Peter, Minn./St. Peter HS) boasts a .398 batting average while leading the team in hits (39) and home runs (6).
  • Five other Saints hit above .315 and senior Bonnie Kowalczyk (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls HS) is one those players who leads the team in doubles with 13.
  • CSS as a team bats .334 from the plate and are 74-for-90 on stolen base attempts.
  • Johnson leads a strong bullpen to go along with Micah McGuiness (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) and sisters Darcy Roach (East Grand Forks, Minn./Sacred Heart HS) and Tracy Roach (East Grand Forks, Minn./Sacred Heart HS).
  • The bullpen has a 3.06 ERA and holds opponents to a .262 batting average.
  • The Saints have outscored opponents by a combined 122-49 in the first two innings this year.

About the Cougars
18-16, 14-7 UMAC

  • Morris is the No. 2 seed heading into this weekend's tournament.
  • Morris went from possibly being out of the UMAC Tournament to being the No. 2 seed after sweeping Bethany Lutheran on Tuesday. If the Cougars had been swept in that doubleheader, they would have not made the tournament. Those two games against Bethany were the only home games of the season for the Cougars.
  • Morris heads into the tournament winning eight of its last 11 games.
  • Sam Hanson leads the Cougar offense with a .427 batting average and holds team highs in hits, triples, home runs, total bases, and slugging percentage.
  • Five other Cougar players hit above .300 and as a team Morris hits .298 from the plate.
  • Six pitchers have shared the mound this season for Morris as the bullpen has a 4.25 ERA and holds opponents to a .311 batting average. 
  • The Cougars have a .933 field percentage and have committed 65 errors on the season.

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About the Knights
19-13, 13-8 UMAC

  • Martin Luther is the No. 3 seed in the tournament.
  • This is will be Martin Luther's first trip to the UMAC Tournament since 2008.
  • MLC's 19 wins this season also set a new program record, breaking the previous mark of 18 set in 1997, 2005, and 2008.
  • Andrea Biedenbender leads the Knight offense with a .457 batting average and has team highs in runs, hits, and slugging percentage.
  • Four other Knight batters hit above .333 from the plate as MLC as a team hits .321 coming into the tournament.
  • MLC batters have struck out 132 times this season, 50 more than opponents.
  • Three pitchers have shared duties for the Knights and the bullpen has a 6.92 ERA while opponents have hit .340 from the plate.
  • Senior pitcher Laura Miller started the season 1-3, but came back strong to post a record of 9-7 at the end of the regular season. The nine wins set a new MLC single-season record, and also helped her set the new career records at MLC for pitcher wins (25), strikeouts (147), and innings pitched (378.2).
  • MLC has outscored opponents 22-11 in the final inning of games this season.

About the Vikings
20-18, 13-8 UMAC

  • Bethany Lutheran is the No. 4 seed in this year UMAC Tournament.
  • The Vikings reached the tournament for just the second time in program history, with the first coming back in 2011.
  • The 9-1 start to the UMAC season was the best conference start in program history.
  • Four Viking batters hit above .365 from the plate while accounting for 75-percent of the teams, hits, runs, and at-bats.
  • BLC as a team hits .284 from the plate and are 57-for-69 in stolen bases.
  • The Viking bullpen has seen three different pitchers this season as they hold a 3.26 ERA while holding opponents to a .268 batting average.
  • Junior Nicole Starkson, after not playing since high school, leads the UMAC in ERA, is second in strikeouts, tied for third in wins and as a hitter is ninth in batting average, and tied for fifth in RBIs.
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