Summit League play begins in Kansas City

THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES

The Tommies and Kansas City Roos will play three games in two days this weekend, a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday.
Saturday's doubleheader will begin at noon with the second game scheduled to start about 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first.
Sunday's game is set for an 11:00 a.m. first pitch.
The Tommies come in with a 4-24 record after six weekends of non-conference tournaments and matchups. They have lost three in a row after taking down the Idaho State Bengals 5-3 on Friday, March 15^th.
Kansas City is 11-18 and on a five-game winning streak entering conference play, including a Power 5 win against Iowa State last time out.
St. Thomas will also be playing Drake on Tuesday, March 26^th for two games starting at 1:00 p.m.
Their busy week continues with their home-opening doubleheader against the Green Bay Phoenix on Wednesday, March 27^th at 2:00 p.m. on South Field in St. Paul.

WHERE TO WATCH

All three games against the Kansas City Roos with be video streamed on the Summit League Network by Midco Sports Plus and can be found HERE.

LAUNCHING IN BOISE
The Tommies smashed five home runs in their game one loss to the Boise State Broncos last weekend. Those five long balls tied a program record and are the most in a single game by a Summit League team this season. South Dakota has one four home run game and South Dakota State has two, but no other team has smashed five over the fence in one game.

The five home runs came from four different bats, Abbi Stierlen, Maddie Grad, Kenzie Miller, and Ella Cook (2).

Maddie Grad's was her second of the season, she had hit one in each of the past two seasons. Kenzie Miller's was also her second after launching her first career home run against Boise State to open the 2024 season in Arizona. It was Stierlen's second of the year as well and second in five games. She too had not hit more than one in a season before the Boise blast.

Ella Cook's two home runs solidified her as a power threat. They were her career-best fourth and fifth of the season after she smacked two in 40 at-bats a year ago. She has seven total for her career, which ties her for third in program history with Avery Wukawitz.

SERIES HISTORY

The Tommies and Roos have split their six meetings over the last two seasons. Kansas City came out with the series win in year one in Missouri, and the Tommies took two out of three last season in St. Paul.
The Toms have outscored Kansas City 30-21 in total and have won three of the last four contests.
Ella Cook's five inning complete game two hit shutout propelled the Toms to the largest margin of victory, 8-0, in series history last season. The freshman struck out three and worked around six base runners enroute to the shutout. The offense slapped six singles and drew five walks to secure the eight run-rule victory.

TOMMIES IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE

Kaitlyn Raymond 12^th in batting average (.324)
Avery Wukawitz 15^th in batting average (.304)
Christina Crawford 8^th in OPS (.909)
Avery Wukawitz 9^th in OPS (.907)
Ella Cook 14^th in OPS (.846)
Avery Wukawitz 13^th in runs scored (16)
Avery Wukawitz T-5^th in doubles (7)
Wukawitz and Laken Lienhard T-8^th in triples (1)
Ella Cook T-5^th in HR (5)
Christina Crawford T-12^th in HR (3)
Avery Wukawitz T-15^th in HR (2)
Ella Cook T-6^th in RBI (21)
Ella Cook 12^th in total bases (40)
Christina Crawford 8^th in SLUG (.576)
Ella Cook 9^th in SLUG (.533)
Avery Wukawitz 10^th in SLUG (.522)
Laken Lienhard T-3^rd in walks (17)
Laken Lienhard 11^th in OBP (.395)
Avery Wukawitz 14^th in OBP (.385)
Avery Wukawitz 4^th in stolen bases (7)
Kaitlyn Raymond T-6^th in stolen bases (5)
Christina Crawford 4^th in IP (79.2)
Ella Cook 12^th in IP (53.1)
Ella Cook 9^th in SO (42)
Christina Crawford 11^th in SO (40)

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

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.
Three days later, they return serve with the Green Bay Phoenix in Wisconsin for a doubleheader on April 10^th.

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 Championships, 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.

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Players Mentioned

Ella Cook

Christina Crawford

Brooke Ellestad

Maddie Grad

Laken Lienhard

Kenzie Miller

Ruby Moore

Kaitlyn Raymond

Abbi Stierlen

Avery Wukawitz

University of St. Thomas Athletics