St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus softball team is set to take part in the 2013 MIAC Playoffs beginning Friday, May 3 at Caswell Park in Mankato, Minn. Gustavus enters the tournament as the No. 5 seed after finishing the regular season 12-17 overall and 9-9 in the MIAC. Because of the revamped playoff format that now features all 12 conference teams battling for four spots in Saturday’s semifinals, the Gusties will have to go through No. 4 seed Saint Mary’s University and No. 9 seed Carleton College in Pool D. Saint Mary’s comes in at 18-13 overall and 11-9 in the MIAC, while Carleton enters at 13-18 overall and 8-10 in the MIAC.
Saint Mary’s will face Carleton at 3:00 p.m. to open up play in Pool D. Gustavus will then face Carleton at 5:00 p.m. before rounding out the day against Saint Mary’s at 7:00 p.m. Live stats for Pool D can be found via the link below.
http://webpages.charter.net/esieger/sb/xlive.htm
Gustavus’s games will also be broadcast live on KNUJ AM 860 and online through the Gustavus athletics website.
The Gustavus softball team swept both Saint Mary’s and Carleton during the regular season. The Gusties topped the Knights by scores of 8-1 and 7-5 on April 25 and the Cardinals by scores of 6-5 and 2-0 on April 27.
The Gusties will look to center fielder Brittany Brenke (Jr., Le Sueur, Minn.) to lead the offense this weekend. Brenke is hitting a team-best .386 with three doubles and a team-high 13 runs. In 15 conference games, Brenke has hit .463 with an on-base percentage of .511. Also within conference play, Carly Klass (So., Richfield, Minn.) is hitting .375 with three doubles and a home run, while Kate Rentschler (Sr., Lakefield, Minn.) is batting .359 with 10 RBI, three doubles and two home runs.
The Gustavus pitching staff has been led by sophomore Sarah Rozell (Lakeville, Minn.) this season. Rozell enters Friday with an overall record of 6-6 and an ERA of .267. Against conference foes she is 4-3 with a 2.28 ERA and an opponent batting average of .279. Kate Rentschler comes in at 4-4 in league play with a 3.36 ERA, while Jessica Williams (Fy., Plymouth, Minn.) has also proven herself on the rubber, posting a 1-1 league record with a 0.67 ERA.
Regular-season champion St. Thomas headlines the 12-team field, and will be the top seed in the tournament. The winner of each pool will advance to a four-team, double-elimination bracket to crown a champion. The other top seeds are No. 2 Bethel, No. 3 St. Olaf and No. 4 Saint Mary’s. The conference announced all 12 seeds Thursday and provided information on the process.
Complete details for the 2013 MIAC Softball Playoffs are available on the tournament’s home page. Host school Gustavus plans to provide live stats for all 12 round-robin pool games Friday, and live video/audio for the remainder of the tournament, weather and staff permitting. The MIAC will update the Softball Playoff home page throughout the tournament with results, box scores, updated schedules, recaps, photos and more. Throughout the tournament, fans can interact on Facebook and Twitter (@MIAConline) using the hashtags #MIACSB and #MIACPlayoffs.