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NCAA Tournament Digital Program
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MIAC champion and No. 4-ranked St. Thomas will play host to a four-team, double-elimination NCAA Softball Tournament opening round regional on campus at South Field, May 9-11.
The Tommies (38-5) will face Northwestern-St. Paul (27-15) at 4:30 p.m., on Thursday, followung the 2 p.m. game between UW-Eau Claire (26-11-1) and Wartburg (26-11).
Three are three games set for Friday (noon, 2:30 and 4:30 p.m.), and one or two (noon, 2:30 p.m.) as needed on Saturday to determine the champion.
St. Thomas is making its 16th consecutive NCAA playoff appearance and has surpassed 35 wins for the 16th year in a row.
Coach John Tschida's team has won 23 of its last 24 games, including three shutout wins in the MIAC playoffs last weekend.
Northwestern has won 13 of its last 14 and won the league playoffs after a fourth-place regular-season finish. The Eagles had early-season doubleheader splits with St. Ben's and Hamline.
Eau Claire took second in its conference and is ranked No. 25 in the latest Division III polls.
Wartburg placed third in its conference and surpassed 25 victories.
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St. Paul Regional Tournament
Schedule/Results
Thursday, May 9
Game 1 -- 2 p.m.: UW-Eau Claire, 2, Wartburg 1 BOX SCORE
Game 2 -- 4:30 p.m.: St. Thomas 9, Northwestern-St. Paul 0 (5 inn.) BOX SCORE
Northwestern Postgame Interview
Friday, May 10
Game 3 -- Noon: St. Thomas 1, UW-Eau Claire 0 BOX SCORE
Game 4 -- 2:30 p.m.: Wartburg 6, Northwestern 4 (9 inn.) (Wartburg advances) BOX SCORE
Game 5 -- 5 p.m.: UW-Eau Claire 4, Wartburg 3 (UWEC advances) BOX SCORE
Eau Claire Postgame Interview (Noon game)
Eau Claire Postgame Interview (5:30 p.m. game)
Saturday, May 11
Game 6 -- St. Thomas 6, UW-Eau Claire 1 LIVE STATS/ _________BOX SCORE
St. Thomas is 2019 St. Paul regional champion
St. Thomas Postgame Interview
Eau Claire Postgame Interview
All-Tournament Team
Northwestern
Kayla Madison (SO)
Wartburg
Kailee O'Brien (SR)
Maddie Rog (SO)
UW-Eau Claire
Mikayla McEnery (SO)
Sarah Peka (JR)
Cheyenne Johnson (JR)
St. Thomas
Melissa Barry (SR)
Elise Barnes (JR)
Dana Connelly (SR)
Kierstin Anderson-Glass (JR) (Most Outstanding Player)
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Meet the Teams
Univ. of Northwestern-St. Paul
Location: Roseville, Minn.
Founded: 1902
Nickname: Eagles
Colors: Purple & Gold
W-L: 27-15 (Conf. 4th, 11-5)
NCAA SB Playoff All-Time Record: 2nd app., 0-2
Softball Staff: HC Alicia du'Monceaux (11th season), assistants Kelsey Stoltman, Erin Olson, Bekah Schmidt
Eagles Roster
No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown/HS
1 Briggs Carlson P/OF 5-8 FR North Mankato, Minn. / Mankato West
2 Kayla Hannasch OF 5-3 SO Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville North
3 Megan Aasness UT 5-4 SO Fergus Falls, Minn. / Hillcrest Academy
4 Courtney Schmidt IF 5-6 SO Spring Valley, Minn / Kingsland
5 Kayla Madison IF 5-5 SO North Branch, Minn. / Forest Lake
6 Ellie Ronning IF 5-8 SO Alexandria, Minn. / Alexandria Area
7 Taylor Ehnstrom IF 5-5 SO Aitkin, Minn. / Aitkin
10 Bridgette Kollos C/UT 5-7 FR Mapleton, Minn. / Maple River
13 Mindy Forcier OF 5-6 SR Watkins, Minn. / Eden Valley-Watkins
14 Cassie Kopischke IF 5-9 FR Bloomington, Minn. / Bloomington
15 Ciara Scheithauer OF/C 5-8 SR Rib Lake, Wis. / Rib Lake
18 Lexi Kopacek P 5-9 SO Willmar, Minn. / Willmar
19 Abbie Nelson P 5-5 JR Holdrege, Neb. / Holdrege
23 Faith Forcier C 5-6 JR Watkins, Minn. / Eden Vallley-Watkins
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Wartburg College
Location: Waverly, Iowa
Founded: 1852
Nickname: Knights
Colors: Orange & Black
W-L: 26-11 (Conf. 3rd, 11-5)
NCAA SB Playoff All-Time Record: 9th app., 23-17
Softball Staff: HC Jamie Mueller (Fourth season), assistants Taylor Dickson, Heather Hupke, Adrian Norris
Knights' Roster
No. Name Yr. Ht. Pos. Hometown/HS
1 Kailee O'Brien SR 5-4 OF Altoona, Iowa / Southeast Polk
2 Liz Roby-Miklus SR 5-6 OF Ankeny, Iowa / Saydel
3 Madison Hiestand FR 5-3 P/IF Plainfield, Ill. / Plainfield South
4 Megan Ritter SO 5-5 OF Newton, Iowa / Baxter
6 Maddie Rog SO 5-2 P/IF Norridge, Ill. / Maine Township South
7 Grace Petersen FR 5-7 C/3B Joliet, Ill. / Joliet West
8 Emily Smillie JR 5-0 OF Parker, Colo. / Chaparral
11 Ashley Quintana FR 5-6 OF Westminster, Colo. / Legacy
12 Lauren Reicks SO 5-3 P Cresco, Iowa / Crestwood
13 Leah Campos SO 5-3 IF/OF Diamond, Ill. / Coal City
14 Madison Rentschler SR 5-9 IF Marion, Iowa / Linn-Mar
15 Brenna Gray SR 5-3 P/OF Waterloo, Iowa / Waterloo West
16 Jenna Levine FR 5-7 1B/OF DeKalb, Ill. / DeKalb
17 Kimmie Gumino SR 5-6 IF Gurnee, Ill. / Warren Township
18 Sydney Illg SR 5-7 IF Grimes, Iowa / Johnston
22 Hannah Onken SR 5-10 IF Jefferson, Iowa / Greene
23 Haley Barkau FR 5-3 OF/IF Denver, Iowa / Denver
24 Madison Stoaks SO 5-8 OF Clive, Iowa / West Des Moines Valley
25 Olivia Brecht FR 5-6 IF Center Point, Iowa / Center Point-Urbana
26 Lauren Wisdom SO 5-9 1B/OF Sycamore, Ill. / Sycamore
28 Morgan Goedken SR 5-3 C Iowa City, Iowa / Regina
30 Allison Hiestand SR 5-6 UT Plainfield, Ill. / Plainfield
34 Katie Quintana JR 5-7 IF Westminster, Colo. / Legacy
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UW-Eau Claire
Location: Eau Claire, Wis.
Founded: 1916
Nickname: Blugolds
Colors: Blue & Gold
W-L: 26-11-1 (Conf. 2nd, 9-4-1)
NCAA SB Playoff All-Time Record: 12th app., 35-20 (1 1st, 1 3rd)
Softball Staff: HC Leslie Huntington (18th season), assistants Robin Baker, Jeff West
Blugolds' Roster
No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. B-T Hometown/HS
1 Allison Schultz OF 5-8 SR L/R Amery, Wis./Amery
2 Ellie Decker C/OF 5-9 FR R/R Germantown, Wis./ Germantown
3 Gretchen Arneson C 5-5 JR L/R Chippewa Falls, Wis./ Chi-Hi
4 Emma Lehman C/IF 5-5 SR R/R Brooklyn Park, Minn./ Champlin Park
5 Taylor Nelson IF/OF 5-1 SO R/R Wisconsin Rapids, Wis./ Assumpton
6 Katelyn Yute IF/OF 5-5 SO R/R North Prairie, Wis./ Kettle Moraine
7 Julia Counard P 5-9 SO R/R De Pere, Wis./ De Pere
9 Mackenzie Sutton C 5-9 FR R/R Greenfield, Wis./ Whitnall
10 Katie Rongstad IF/OF 5-7 JR R/R Slinger, Wis./Slinger
11 Evie Barczak OF 5-4 FR L/R Minnetonka, Minn./ Hopkins
12 Morgan Sivak P 5-11 SO R/R Oconomowoc, Wis./ Oconomowoc
13 Jackie Carlucci P 5-7 FR R/R Elk Grove Village, Ill./ Conant
14 Meghan Witt IF 5-7 FR R/L Portage, Wis./ Portage
15 Cheyenne Johnson P/U 5-11 JR R/R Poplar, Wis./ Northwestern
17 Haley Robinson IF/OF 5-9 FR R/R Hoffman Estates, Ill./ St. Viator
18 Mikayla McEnery OF 5-4 SO L/R Savage, Minn./ Prior Lake
20 Jessica Heffel IF/OF 5-5 SR R/R Racine, Wis./ Case
21 Sarah Peka P/IF 5-8 JR R/R Chanhassen, Minn./ Minnetonka
22 Madison Morris P/OF 5-6 SO R/R Caledonia, Ill./ North Boone
23 Maria Back IF 5-6 FR R/R Rosemount, Minn./ Rosemount
24 Bri Calder IF/OF 5-8 SR R/R Corcoran, Minn./ Rockford
26 Tessa Dachel IF 5-6 JR R/R Chippewa Falls, Wis./ Chi-Hi
27 Abbey Place C/IF 5-5 SO R/R Naperville, Ill./ Naperville Central
28 Stephanie Wilczynski P/OF 5-6 JR R/R Naperville, Ill./ Waubonsie Valley
29 Bailee Sillman IF/OF 5-4 SO R/R Chippewa Falls, Wis./ Chi-Hi
30 Brooke Varian IF 5-6 SR R/R Madison, Wis./ West
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Univ. of St. Thomas
Location: St. Paul, Minn.
Founded: 1885
Nickname: Tommies
Colors: Purple & Gray
W-L: 38-5 (Conf. 1st, 19-3)
NCAA SB Playoff All-Time Record: 26th app., 77-50 (2 1sts, 1 2nd, 1 3rd)
Softball Staff: HC John Tschida (19th season), assistants Brad Horstman, Jim Tschida, Tim Gormley, Erica Wilson, Megan DuPuis
Tommies' Roster
No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. B-T Hometown/HS
1 Isabelle Marketon SR P/1B 5-5 L/L Hartford, S.D./West Central
2 Jenna Beeso SR IF 5-8 R/R Scottsdale, Ariz./Horizon
3 Marina O'Leary SR OF 5-2 S/R East Grand Forks/Sacred Heart
4 Annie Naughton FR OF 5-8 L/R St. Paul, Minn./St. Agnes
5 Elise Barnes JR IF 5-6 R/R South St. Paul, Minn /South St. Paul
7 Keaira Caldarera SR IF 5-3 L/R Anchorage, Alaska/Service
9 Stacy Smith SO IF/OF 5-6 R/R Champlin Park, Minn /Champlin Park
10 Kristin McGonigal SR IF 5-2 L/L Omaha, Neb./Skutt Catholic
11 Sam Birling SO UTL 5-6 R/R Appleton, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran
12 Madi DeMarco SR C/IF 5-3 R/R Lindenhurst, Ill./Carmel
13 Sam Schindler FR OF 5-6 R/R Deerfield, Wis./Deerfield
15 Rachel Suter SR IF 5-7 R/R Cottage Grove, Minn /Park
16 Jaylen Heller JR OF 5-3 L/R Kilkenny, Minn /Apple Valley
17 Sophia Link FR IF 5-5 R/R Lakeville, Minn /South
18 Mara Simon SO IF/OF 5-7 R/R Littleton, Colo./Chatfield
19 Kaitlyn Massman SR IF 5-8 R/R Mount Horeb, Wis./Mount Horeb
20 Alyssa Erdman JR P/OF 5-6 R/R Verona, Wis./Verona
21 Casie Sinn FR 1B-OF 5-6 R/R North Branch, Minn /North Branch
22 Calli Schindler FR UTL 5-7 R/R Deerfield, Wis./Homestead
23 Paige Falde JR OF 5-6 R/R St. Michael, Minn /St. Michael-Albertville
24 Carlie Bell FR P-IF 5-4 L/R Wahpeton, N.D./Wahpeton
25 Melissa Barry SR IF 5-6 R/R Apple Valley, Minn /Eastview
28 Kendall Hopkins FR P-2B 5-6 R/R Las Vegas, Nev./Paloverde
29 Sarah Bueno SR OF 5-3 L/R Algonquin, Ill./Waukee (Iowa)
30 Megan Baniecke FR P-IF 5-9 R/R Forest Lake, Minn /Forest Lake
32 Chase Shortly SR C/IF 5-7 R/R Forest Lake, Minn /Forest Lake
33 Nicole Pieper FR IF 5-6 R/R Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hill
34 Bridget Armstrong SO UTL 5-6 R/R Burnsville, Minn /Burnsville
35 Abby Gray FR OF 5-10 R/R Minnetonka, Minn /Minnetonka
36 Dana Connelly SR OF 5-9 R/R Mendota Heights, Minn /Cretin-Derham Hall
37 Kierstin Anderson-Glass JR P-1B 5-9 R/R Inver Grove Heights, Minn /Visitation
38 Jenna Bromen SR C-IF 5-11 R/R Eagan, Minn /Eagan
39 Sophia Peterson JR C/OF 5-5 R/R Lino Lakes, Minn /Hill-Murray
40 Hayley Dunning JR P/IF 5-8 R/R Littleton, Colo./Chatfield
41 Cassie Swanson FR IF 5-9 R/R Faribault, Minn /Faribault