University of St. Thomas Athletics
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Softball announces tremendously strong 2024 schedule
1/5/2024 2:00:00 PM | Softball
Coach Jen Trotter has put together a season schedule with seven Power-5 opponents, seven 2023 conference champs, and three opponents ranked in the Top-25 at the end of last season to go along with a tough Summit League lineup in 2024.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – University of St. Thomas Softball has announced its 2024 schedule, a 53-game beast of a slate that boasts bouts with high-end talent from across the country. The Purple will participate in five non-conference weekend tournaments before an 18-game conference schedule caps off their third year in Division I.
The Tommies play 11 games at South Field, featuring a home-and-home series battle against non-conference foe Green Bay (22-31, 12-10 Horizon). They also travel to Ames, Iowa for a non-conference matchup at Iowa State (25-30, 6-12 Big 12), and to Des Moines for two games against the Bulldogs of Drake (18-34, 10-17 MVC).
St. Thomas adds five freshmen and two transfers to a team that secured a 6-14 Summit League record while going 18-35 overall in 2023. During their second season at the DI level, the Toms took down their first Power-5 opponent with a 12-10 win on the road against Wisconsin and put together the program's first five-game win streak. Head Coach Jen Trotter also won her 700th game as a collegiate head coach.
The Purple return 17 players from last season's campaign, including Summit League Freshman of the Year, Avery Wukawitz. The Woodbury, Minn. native led the Summit in triples (six) and hits (58), she was top-three in batting average (.360), on-base plus slugging percentage (1.033), runs scored (40), stolen bases (19), top-five in slugging percentage (.584), on-base percentage (.449), at-bats (161) and top ten in walks (22). She was also one of just three qualified fielders to record a flawless 1.000 fielding percentage, converting on all 98 chances in center field with an athleticism that was hard to ignore.
The makeup of the Tommie roster includes, six infielders, five outfielders, four pitchers, three catchers, and six utility players.
The 2024 schedule gets started on Feb. 9 at the Kajikawa Classic hosted by Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. St. Thomas matches up with Boise State (32-17, 16-5 Mountain West) and Arizona State (22-26, 6-18 Pac-12) on opening day. Day two has the team battling 2023 Big-10 Champion Northwestern (42-13, 20-3 Big 10) and WAC Champion Grand Canyon (47-13, 17-7 WAC). They finish off the tournament against Virginia (30-22, 8-16 ACC) Feb. 11.
Just one week later the Purple are back on the road for the Easton Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Feb. 16-18. They lineup for two games against both Southern Indiana (21-23, 13-9 OVC) and the Alabama Crimson Tide (45-22, 14-10 SEC), the latter of which lost in the 2023 College World Series. Their final of five games will be a rematch with Virginia on Feb. 18.
Next up is another Power-5 filled weekend at the Texas A&M Invite in Bryan-College Station, Tex. Feb. 23-25. The Toms square off with Southeastern Louisiana (47-14, 19-5 SLC) twice, along with three games against Texas A&M (35-21, 12-12 SEC), UTSA (8-41, 3-20 CUSA), and Kansas (25-27, 5-13 Big-12).
Their grind through the opening portion of the season continues with another weekend tournament. The SIUE Cougar Invite on Mar. 1-3 has the Toms scheduled to play two games against Illinois State (30-22, 19-7 MVC) and then one game each against Loyola Chicago (27-23, 18-6 A-10), Creighton (22-31, 6-18 Big East), and Southern Illinois Edwardsville (30-26, 12-10 OVC).
St. Louis, Missouri is the next stop on the Toms' extended road trip start to 2024 for three games with the Saint Louis University Billikens (30-25, 20-5 A-10). SLU's 20-5 conference record led them to a regular season conference title. The two teams will matchup for a couple of games on Mar. 9 and then one final contest the following morning.
St. Thomas' final tournament will be played in Boise, Ida. On Mar. 15-17. The Toms square off with Idaho State (20-28, 10-5 Big Sky) for two games, Santa Clara (23-26, 4-11 WCC) for two, and the Boise State squad for the second time in 2024.
The Tommies begin conference play at Kansas City (9-43, 4-17 Summit) on Mar. 23-25 in Kansas City, Mo. with a doubleheader Saturday followed by one game on Sunday. They then stop in Des Moines, Iowa for the final road games before their home opener. The Toms will play the Drake Bulldogs in Iowa's capital twice on Mar. 26.
After 33 road games and over 12,000 miles of travel (as the crow flies) to begin 2024, the Tommies return home to South Field for two quick games on Mar. 27 against Green Bay (22-31, 12-10 Horizon).
It's back to the road just two days later as they head to Fargo, N.D. in a return to Summit League play against North Dakota State (30-21, 13-8 Summit) on Mar. 29-30.
A week later, the Toms welcome in the reigning Summit League champion Omaha Mavericks (33-17, 15-5 Summit) to South Field for three games to kick off the month of April. Afterwards they head to Green Bay to finish off the home-and-home with a mid-week doubleheader against the Phoenix on Apr. 10.
St. Thomas hosts their only multi-series homestand of the campaign with six in a row against North Dakota (12-38, 9-10 Summit) and South Dakota (24-28, 11-9 Summit) on Apr. 13-14 and 20-21 respectively. Their game on the 21st will be their final home contest of the season.
One final non-conference matchup with Iowa State (25-30, 6-12 Big-12) on Apr. 23 stands between the Toms and the regular-season champion South Dakota State Jackrabbits (39-19, 17-0). The Toms will matchup with South Dakota State in Brookings on Apr. 27-28 to wrap up the season.
In-all, the Tommies will play a 53-game slate in 2024, featuring three teams that finished in the final Top-25 poll in 2023 (Alabama, Northwestern, Texas A&M), and eight teams in the NCAA RPI Top-60 (Boise State, Northwestern, Virginia, Alabama, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas A&M, Kansas, and South Dakota State). The Toms will play seven mid-week games (Drake, Green Bay, Iowa State), nine home Summit League games (Omaha, North Dakota, South Dakota), and nine road conference matchups (Kansas City, North Dakota State, South Dakota State).
UP NEXT
The Tommies kick off the season at the Kajikawa Classic on Feb. 9 against Boise State, first pitch is set for 2:15 p.m. central.
The Tommies play 11 games at South Field, featuring a home-and-home series battle against non-conference foe Green Bay (22-31, 12-10 Horizon). They also travel to Ames, Iowa for a non-conference matchup at Iowa State (25-30, 6-12 Big 12), and to Des Moines for two games against the Bulldogs of Drake (18-34, 10-17 MVC).
St. Thomas adds five freshmen and two transfers to a team that secured a 6-14 Summit League record while going 18-35 overall in 2023. During their second season at the DI level, the Toms took down their first Power-5 opponent with a 12-10 win on the road against Wisconsin and put together the program's first five-game win streak. Head Coach Jen Trotter also won her 700th game as a collegiate head coach.
The Purple return 17 players from last season's campaign, including Summit League Freshman of the Year, Avery Wukawitz. The Woodbury, Minn. native led the Summit in triples (six) and hits (58), she was top-three in batting average (.360), on-base plus slugging percentage (1.033), runs scored (40), stolen bases (19), top-five in slugging percentage (.584), on-base percentage (.449), at-bats (161) and top ten in walks (22). She was also one of just three qualified fielders to record a flawless 1.000 fielding percentage, converting on all 98 chances in center field with an athleticism that was hard to ignore.
The makeup of the Tommie roster includes, six infielders, five outfielders, four pitchers, three catchers, and six utility players.
The 2024 schedule gets started on Feb. 9 at the Kajikawa Classic hosted by Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. St. Thomas matches up with Boise State (32-17, 16-5 Mountain West) and Arizona State (22-26, 6-18 Pac-12) on opening day. Day two has the team battling 2023 Big-10 Champion Northwestern (42-13, 20-3 Big 10) and WAC Champion Grand Canyon (47-13, 17-7 WAC). They finish off the tournament against Virginia (30-22, 8-16 ACC) Feb. 11.
Just one week later the Purple are back on the road for the Easton Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Feb. 16-18. They lineup for two games against both Southern Indiana (21-23, 13-9 OVC) and the Alabama Crimson Tide (45-22, 14-10 SEC), the latter of which lost in the 2023 College World Series. Their final of five games will be a rematch with Virginia on Feb. 18.
Next up is another Power-5 filled weekend at the Texas A&M Invite in Bryan-College Station, Tex. Feb. 23-25. The Toms square off with Southeastern Louisiana (47-14, 19-5 SLC) twice, along with three games against Texas A&M (35-21, 12-12 SEC), UTSA (8-41, 3-20 CUSA), and Kansas (25-27, 5-13 Big-12).
Their grind through the opening portion of the season continues with another weekend tournament. The SIUE Cougar Invite on Mar. 1-3 has the Toms scheduled to play two games against Illinois State (30-22, 19-7 MVC) and then one game each against Loyola Chicago (27-23, 18-6 A-10), Creighton (22-31, 6-18 Big East), and Southern Illinois Edwardsville (30-26, 12-10 OVC).
St. Louis, Missouri is the next stop on the Toms' extended road trip start to 2024 for three games with the Saint Louis University Billikens (30-25, 20-5 A-10). SLU's 20-5 conference record led them to a regular season conference title. The two teams will matchup for a couple of games on Mar. 9 and then one final contest the following morning.
St. Thomas' final tournament will be played in Boise, Ida. On Mar. 15-17. The Toms square off with Idaho State (20-28, 10-5 Big Sky) for two games, Santa Clara (23-26, 4-11 WCC) for two, and the Boise State squad for the second time in 2024.
The Tommies begin conference play at Kansas City (9-43, 4-17 Summit) on Mar. 23-25 in Kansas City, Mo. with a doubleheader Saturday followed by one game on Sunday. They then stop in Des Moines, Iowa for the final road games before their home opener. The Toms will play the Drake Bulldogs in Iowa's capital twice on Mar. 26.
After 33 road games and over 12,000 miles of travel (as the crow flies) to begin 2024, the Tommies return home to South Field for two quick games on Mar. 27 against Green Bay (22-31, 12-10 Horizon).
It's back to the road just two days later as they head to Fargo, N.D. in a return to Summit League play against North Dakota State (30-21, 13-8 Summit) on Mar. 29-30.
A week later, the Toms welcome in the reigning Summit League champion Omaha Mavericks (33-17, 15-5 Summit) to South Field for three games to kick off the month of April. Afterwards they head to Green Bay to finish off the home-and-home with a mid-week doubleheader against the Phoenix on Apr. 10.
St. Thomas hosts their only multi-series homestand of the campaign with six in a row against North Dakota (12-38, 9-10 Summit) and South Dakota (24-28, 11-9 Summit) on Apr. 13-14 and 20-21 respectively. Their game on the 21st will be their final home contest of the season.
One final non-conference matchup with Iowa State (25-30, 6-12 Big-12) on Apr. 23 stands between the Toms and the regular-season champion South Dakota State Jackrabbits (39-19, 17-0). The Toms will matchup with South Dakota State in Brookings on Apr. 27-28 to wrap up the season.
In-all, the Tommies will play a 53-game slate in 2024, featuring three teams that finished in the final Top-25 poll in 2023 (Alabama, Northwestern, Texas A&M), and eight teams in the NCAA RPI Top-60 (Boise State, Northwestern, Virginia, Alabama, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas A&M, Kansas, and South Dakota State). The Toms will play seven mid-week games (Drake, Green Bay, Iowa State), nine home Summit League games (Omaha, North Dakota, South Dakota), and nine road conference matchups (Kansas City, North Dakota State, South Dakota State).
UP NEXT
The Tommies kick off the season at the Kajikawa Classic on Feb. 9 against Boise State, first pitch is set for 2:15 p.m. central.
Players Mentioned
OF/SS
/ SoftballPress Conference: Tommie Women's Basketball Head Coach Mandy Pearson
Thursday, March 26
Homegrown Tommies: Chase Cheslock
Thursday, March 19
Postgame: Tommie Women's Basketball, Summit League Semifinals v NDSU
Sunday, March 08
Postgame: Tommie Women's Basketball, Summit League Quarterfinals v ORU
Friday, March 06
