University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saint Mary's
Softball closes out 22-0 MIAC finish
4/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The No. 4-ranked St. Thomas softball team completed another 22-0 MIAC regular-season with Tuesday's road sweep at St. Mary's. The Toms won 5-0 and 15-2, with the latter game halted after five innings.
St. Thomas (37-3 overall, 22-0 MIAC) ran its MIAC win streak to 54. Coach John Tschida's team goes into this week's MIAC playoffs as the No. 1 seed for the fifth time in the five-year history of the double-elimination tournament.
It's just the fourth time in the 15 years since the MIAC went to a 22-game schedule that a team went 22-0. All four teams were coached by Tschida -- the 1998 St. Mary's team and UST teams of 2004, 2007 and 2008.
Steph Moores and Alison Wright each had five hits on the day and Olivia Graham had four. The Tommies, who lead Division III softball in batting average at .400 through 40 games, had 25 hits on the day, including four home runs. UST now has 53 homers in 40 games.
Senior Maria Bye threw a three-hit shutout and fanned 11 in game one as the Toms led just 2-0 into the last inning. Bye is now 82-8 on her career (42-1 vs. MIAC foes) and her 685 strikeouts are within 12 of all-time leader Janet Nagle on the MIAC career list. Bye has not allowed a run in her last 28 innings and hasn't allowed an earned run in 38 innings.
Bye had an RBI double in the first inning and scored Moores' RBI single. In the seventh, Missy Bruggeman doubled, Anne Carpentier homered and Wright homered.
In game two, Marta Radcliffe allowed one earned run, one walk and five hits in four innings for the pitching win.
Game 1 box score here:
http://www.saintmaryssports.com/sports/softball/2008/429ust-1.htm
Game 2 box score here:
http://www.saintmaryssports.com/sports/softball/2008/429ust-2.htm
