University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, March 15
Boise, Ida. / Huber Field
1:00 p.m. Central
at
Boise State
Softball with final non-conference tournament of 2024
3/14/2024 6:34:00 PM | Softball
The Tommies head to Boise, Idaho to face off with Boise State, Idaho State, and Santa Clara.
THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES
LAST WEEKEND
WHERE TO WATCH
TOMMIES IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYERS TO WATCH
TRANSFERS
COACH TROTTER
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.
- The Tommies play their second game of the season against the hosting Boise State Broncos at 1:00 p.m. CST on Friday March 15th. The two teams last dueled it out to open the 2024 season for the Tommies. Boise State came out with a 7-4 win after the Toms took a 4-1 lead in the third inning.
- They the play two split doubleheaders with the Idaho State Bengals and Santa Clara Broncos. Game one with Idaho State is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. CST on Friday and game two have a 1:00 p.m. CST first pitch on Saturday.
- Game one against Santa Clara is set for 3:30 p.m. CST on Saturday with game two rounding out the weekend at noon CST on Sunday.
- The Tommies come in with a 3-20 record.
- Boise State is 15-10 with wins in four straight games.
- Idaho State comes in at 14-11 after a 3-2 weekend against Maine, Drake, and Colorado State.
- Santa Clara is 14-9 and on a six-game win streak. They swept both North Dakota
State and Iowa last weekend.
LAST WEEKEND
- The Tommies fell in both of their Saturday games to the Saint Louis University Billikens in Saint Louis 9-1 and 8-5 last weekend. They tallied just three hits in five innings during game one. Their offensive production from the week before returned with five runs on eight hits in game two. The Billikens manufactured eight runs on six hits. Game two was the first time this season the Toms had lost a game in which they outhit their opponent (2-1), they are 29-13 all-time when doing so.
- St. Thomas played its tightest game of the weekend against Power 5 opponent, Illinois. Christina Crawford went the distance and tossed all nine innings of softball while allowing just one earned run. She gave up one run in the fourth inning and two in the top of the ninth. Crawford struck out five while walking one and allowing six hits in the losing effort. The Toms' only run came in the bottom of the sixth inning when Ruby Moore stole home.
WHERE TO WATCH
- Only the game against Boise State will be livestreamed via the Mountain West Network, HERE.
TOMMIES IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
- Avery Wukawitz 10th in batting average (.345)
- Kaitlyn Raymond 14th in batting average (.310)
- Christina Crawford 4th in OPS (1.075)
- Avery Wukawitz 7th in OPS (1.019)
- Avery Wukawitz 9th in runs scored (16)
- Avery Wukawitz 7th in doubles (6)
- Wukawitz and Laken Lienhard T-4th in triples (1)
- Ella Cook and Crawford T-8th in HR (3)
- Avery Wukawitz T-13th in HR (2)
- Ella Cook 8th in RBI (16)
- Avery Wukawitz 14th in total bases (34)
- Christina Crawford leads in SLUG (.696)
- Avery Wukawitz 6th in SLUG (.586)
- Laken Lienhard T-6th in walks (12)
- Avery Wukawitz 7th in OBP (.433)
- Avery Wukawitz 3rd in stolen bases (7)
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
- Conference play begins on March 23 against the Kansas City Roos.
- After opening Summit League play, the Tommies play four consecutive non-conference games. Two against Drake in Des Moines on March 26 and two at home the next day against the Phoenix of Green Bay.
- They return to Summit League action that weekend with three against the Bison of North Dakota State in Fargo.
- The Tommies host their Summit League home opener the first week of April against the Omaha Mavericks from April 6-7.
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 713-498 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.
Players Mentioned
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/ Softball
SS
/ Softball
SS
/ Softball
INF
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OF
/ SoftballOF/SS
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