Arden Hills, Minn. – For the first time since the 2009 season, the Gustavus Adolphus softball team is going to the dance.
Thanks to a 4-3 victory over the University of St. Thomas on Sunday afternoon at the Ona Orth Complex, the Gusties claim their first MIAC Playoff Championship and earn the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. It will be the program’s fourth all-time appearance – third under the direction Head Coach Jeff Annis – in the NCAA Tournament. Gustavus improves to 33-14, while St. Thomas drops to 34-10.
After earning a pair of 6-0 victories over Hamline and St. Thomas, respectively, in their first two games of the MIAC Playoffs, the Gusties allowed their first runs of the postseason this afternoon and found themselves in a dog fight late in the game.
Trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning after St. Thomas scored two runs on three hits in the top half of the frame, Gustavus answered the bell. Jena Willis (So., Glacier, Mont.) got the rally started with a lead-off single and was then moved advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Kaitlin Bicek (Jr., Northfield, Minn.). Jessica Williams (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) followed up with a game-tying double down the left field line to knot the score at 3-3. In the very next at-bat, Rachel Malo (So., Owatonna, Minn.) copied Williams with a walk-off double to the left-center field gap to bring in the game-winning run and allow the Gusties league’s postseason crown.
Coach Annis stuck to the script and went back to Hannah Heacox (So., Stillwater, Minn.) to start on the rubber. Heacox went six and one-third innings, allowing one run in the first and two runs in the seventh. Sarah Rozell (Sr., Lakeville, Minn.) took Heacox’s place when she got into trouble in the seventh. Rozell got the Gusties out of the inning and went on to pick up the victory (13-6) thanks to her effort.
St. Thomas’s Morgan Murphy suffered the loss (3-1) after allowing four runs on seven hits.
Gustavus answered St. Thomas’s one run first inning with a run in the bottom of the first and another in the third to go up 2-1. Kailey Morgan (Sr., Mound, Minn.) scored Paige Breneman (Sr., Sherburn, Minn.) in the first, and then brought in Breneman again in the third with a sacrifice fly.
FROM THE MIAC
Gustavus’ title marked the first time a team other than St. Thomas won the MIAC Playoff championship and, as a result, the Gusties also received the MIAC’s automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division III Softball Tournament. The national tournament field will be announced Monday, May 4, at 9 a.m. via a live online selection show on NCAA.com.
Fans can re-live the 2015 MIAC Softball Playoffs on the tournament home page which includes complete scores, stats, recaps, photo galleries and more from an outstanding three days of softball. All photos are available for purchase directly from the web site. Fans can also connect on social media through the MIAC’s Facebook page or Twitter and Instagram accounts, using the hashtags #MIACSB and #MIACPlayoffs.