Photos courtesy of Matt Higgins – MIAC Assistant Executive Director
St. Paul – The Gustavus softball team ended its 2014 season on Saturday afternoon in the consolation final of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs. On Monday, the conference recognized a pair of individuals for their play during the tournament. Junior shortstop Shelby Nosan (Baudette, Minn.) and rookie pitcher Hannah Heacox (Stillwater, Minn.) were named to the MIAC Softball Playoffs All-Tournament Team following outstanding performances over the two-day tournament.
St. Thomas, the tournament champion, placed five players on the squad, including the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Emily Gregory. Runner-up Bethel also landed five players on the team, while Gustavus was the only other team with representatives in Nosan and Heacox.
Gustavus opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over third-seeded Saint Benedict on Friday afternoon before falling later that evening to top-seeded St. Thomas by the score of 4-1. The Gusties had a chance to come back through the consolation final of the double elimination tournament, but could not overcome a 6-2 deficit to Bethel and eventually suffered a 7-5 defeat.
A catalyst for the Gustavus offense all season, Shelby Nosan did not disappoint in the postseason when it mattered most. Riding a 7-game hitting streak coming into the tournament, the junior captain extended that streak to 10 games with at least one hit in all three tournament contests. Shelby finished the weekend 6 for 11 (.545) at the plate with two doubles, a home run, and four runs batted in (RBI). With three runs scored, Nosan accounted for six of the team’s eight runs in the playoffs.
The highlight of the tournament for the Gusties came from rookie hurler Hannah Heacox on Friday when she pitched a no-hitter against Saint Benedict. Heacox shut down the Blazer offense, facing 27 batters with no hits, six walks and an impressive 10 strikeouts in the 2-0 win. It was the first no-hitter thrown by a Gustavus pitcher since 2009 when Erin Truebenbach ’11 no-hit Bethel on April 14th. Heacox went on to pitch complete games in each of the other two games and finished the weekend allowing 11 runs on 14 hits with 21 strikeouts in 20 innings of work.
The All-Tournament Team was selected by the four head coaches who competed in the 2014 MIAC Softball Playoffs. To re-live the action of the 2014 MIAC Softball Playoffs, the tournament’s home page includes complete scores, stats, recaps, photo galleries and more from an outstanding two days of MIAC softball.