Softball with five games in Southern Illinois

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES

This is the first tournament of the season in which St. Thomas will not matchup with a Top-25 ranked opponent.
They will play three games against three different opponents and two against the Redbirds of Illinois State down in Edwardsville, Illinois at the Southern Illinois Edwardsville Invitational.
They will also play Loyola Chicago, Creighton, and the hosting SIUE Cougars.
The Ramblers of Loyola are scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on Friday March 1 followed by the Redbirds at 5:00 p.m.
Day two has the Toms matching up with the Creighton Bluejays at noon and the SIUE Cougars at 5:00 p.m.
Their final matchup with be a rematch with Illinois State at 9:30 a.m.
The Tommies come in with a 1-14 record through their first three weekends.
- Loyola is 6-5 (1-5 in their last six)
- SIUE is 6-7 (2-1 in their last three)
- Creighton is 8-5 (2-3 in their last five)
- Illinois State is 2-14 (2-4 in their last six)

LAST WEEKEND

The Tommies lost all five of their games at the Texas A&M Invitational last week to #17 Texas A&M 10-2 in five innings, to Southeastern Louisiana twice 5-2 and 9-1, and to the UTSA Roadrunners 12-8 and 6-5. Overall, they were outscored 42-18.

WHERE TO WATCH

Southern Illinois Edwardsville will not be streaming this weekend's games.

TOMMIE TIDBITS

St. Thomas' 47 walks are tied for second in the Summit League
Avery Wukawitz is tied for sixth in the Summit in runs scored (11), she is also tied for fourth in doubles (4), and leads the conference with five stolen bases
Ella Cook is top-10 in Summit League HR's (2) and third in RBI (12), her 19 total bases lead the Tommies and are 14^th in the Summit
Laken Lienhard leads the conference in walks (11)

DI PROGRAM RECORD HOLDERS

Kaitlyn Raymond – games started (115), at-bats (342), walks (35)
Avery Wukawitz – triples (6), hit-by-pitches (6), stolen bases (24)
Christina Crawford – strikeouts (117)

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Their first softball outside of February is played in Edwardsville, Illinois at the SIUE Cougar Invite. They will play Loyola Chicago, Illinois State (twice), Creighton, and SIUE.
One week later the Toms play their first games outside of the five-game tournament format with a three-game road series at Saint Louis University.
Next, they head out to Boise, Idaho for their final tournament of the season at Boise State University. They will play Boise State, Idaho State, and Santa Clara.
Conference play begins on March 23 against the Kansas City Roos.

SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Christina Crawford was named the Tommies' Pitcher to Watch. The redshirt-sophomore missed the 2023 season due to injury but is expected to get a bulk of the innings in the circle this season. Her freshman year she pitched 130.1 innings with a 4.99 ERA and .279 batting average against. She also tallied 100 strikeouts including a program-record 19 strikeout performance. Crawford is the Toms DI program leader in: Strikeouts (100), K/9 (6.92), and WHIP (1.70).
Avery Wukawitz was named the Tommies' Player to Watch. The reigning Newcomer of the Year burst onto the scene last season with an extraordinary freshman season. She finished in the league's top-five in runs (40), total bases (94), slugging percentage (.584), on-base percentage (.449), stolen bases (19), and OPS (1.033). She is the DI program leader in triples (6).

TRANSFERS

Laken Lienhard is a third-year transfer from North Iowa Area Community College. In her two seasons with the Trojans she slashed .459/.555/.893 with a 1.448 OPS. Of her 133 hits, 67 went for extra bases with 27 home runs. She also pitched 278.1 innings to a 3.07 career ERA. She was named the inaugural Joan Joyce award winner which goes to the best Utility/pitcher player in all of NJCAA Division II. She is also a multi-time all-American.
Ruby Moore is a second-year transfer from NCAA Division II West Texas A&M. Her Buffs went 50-8 last season as she slashed .389/.500/.556 in 18 at-bats. She played in 49 games and made three starts. Moore also stole 10 bases on 11 attempts.

COACH TROTTER

Entering her third season for St. Thomas
Has a career coaching record of 709-489 across 22 seasons
Prior to St. Thomas, Trotter was the head coach at Missouri Western State, where she amassed 676 career wins (the most in the history of the MIAA) and a 676-404 overall record. She was a four-time MIAA Coach of the Year and led her team to two MIAA Regular Season Championsjops, two conference tournament championships, 11 NCAA Regional appearances, and 13 30-win seasons.

PRESEASON SUMMIT LEAGUE POLL
St. Thomas was picked tied for sixth place with Kansas City by the Summit League Head Coaches in this season's preseason poll. The Toms garnered 10 points after a 18-25 (6-14) record a season ago. St. Thomas did lose All-Summit League First-Teamer Brooke Ellestad but the Purple also retained the reigning Newcomer of the Year, Avery Wukawitz. South Dakota State came out on top in the poll with 34 points and four first place votes. The Mavericks of Omaha came in just underneath with 33 points and three first place votes. South Dakota and North Dakota State earned 24 and 22 points respectively while North Dakota finished four points in front of the Tommies and Roos.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ella Cook

Christina Crawford

Brooke Ellestad

Laken Lienhard

Ruby Moore

Kaitlyn Raymond

Avery Wukawitz

University of St. Thomas Athletics