University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saturday, April 26
St. Paul, Minn. / South Field
12:00 p.m. Central
vs
Kansas City
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Tommie Softball looks to defend South Field against Kansas City
4/25/2025 1:39:00 PM | Softball
The Tommies are riding an eight-game win streak, tied for second place in the Summit League
ST. PAUL, Minn. – St. Thomas Softball (28-16 overall, 9-3 Summit League) just keeps on rolling through its 2025 schedule and is currently on an eight-game win streak. The Tommies enter the weekend with matchups against the Kansas City Roos (5-34, 1-11) this Saturday at 12:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and Sunday at 11:00 a.m. at South Field.
The Roos currently reside in last place in the Summit League with one lone win over the North Dakota State Bison on March 21st and have won just one game since then (1-15 during that stretch). Their last win was on April 16th against Western Illinois, 13-9. Since that win, they are 0-2 with a -30 run differential against Wichita State and Kansas.
St. Thomas holds the all-time series over the Roos, 5-4. The Purple have won each of the last two season series two games to one. The last time they played Kansas City at South Field they dropped game one 1-3 and then followed with 8-0 and 11-6 wins.
Redshirt junior, Grace Batdorf leads the way for the Roos with a .861 OPS. She is slashing .301/.354/.507 with six doubles and three home runs. She makes up 3/7 of the entire Kansas City home run total this season. The Kansas City pitching staff has combined for a 7.98 ERA, and is led by freshman, Riley Bebb, who has pitched 94.1 innings across 31 appearances and 15 starts.
Know Before You Go
On Saturday, April 26, Twin Cities in Motion is having a "Get in Gear" event with a 5K, 10K, and half-marathon. You will notice closures on Cretin Avenue to the west of Campus as well as various other street routes in St. Paul.
St. Paul Police Department will be stationed at various areas on Cretin to allow vehicle access to the UST campus. The Mississippi River Road will be blocked off starting early in the morning through the afternoon. Race day starts at 8:15am but setup and blockades will be up before dawn.
Expect congestion and delays. If possible, avoid the marathon routes.
For more detailed information, feel free to visit their website: Twin Cities "Get in Gear" Event - Saturday, April 26
It's a Whole Staff Kinda Thing
The Tommie pitching staff of Christina Crawford, Ella Cook, Keira Murphy, and Ava Kleinfeldt have combined for a program-best 3.33 ERA in 287.2 innings pitched this season. That is down from 5.86 last season and is the lowest in program history by 2.53 runs.
Most notably, they have all recorded a complete game shutout during 2025. Ella Cook was the first to do it on 2/8 against Green Bay (10-0 in five innings) followed by Ava Kleinfeldt on 2/23 in a 3-0 win over Incarnate Word. Christina Crawford followed that up with a 6-0 win over Wagner on 2/28 and then Keira Murphy pitched the program's first no-hitter on 3/2 in a 14-0 five-inning win over Wagner. Cook and Crawford have each added a second complete game shutout. The freshman, Kleinfeldt, leads the team with a single-season program record three CGSO.
Smashin' Cass
Cassidy Carby came into the 2025 season as the all-time home run leader for the Tommies with 13 and she currently leads the team with eight round trippers this season. The redshirt junior smashed a program-record eight home runs back in 2022.
Carby is having a career year with all-time bests in batting average, OBP, SLUG, OPS, runs, RBI, total bases, and doubles. Her .582 slugging percentage is second only to her teammate Laken Lienhard. She has set a new career high with 45 hits, there are six games remaining in the 2025 season. Carby became the fourth Tommie to surpass 100 career hits in her last game against the Green Bay Phoenix.
Her strikeout rate has also dropped precipitously this season; 29.6% in 2022, 26.5% in 2024, 19.8% in 2025. She has not struck out more than once in a game since 4/8 in game two against Wisconsin and has just five such games this season.
Hit it to the Lake
Laken Lienhard has truly found her power stroke this season. The senior shortstop was a tremendous asset in the lineup last season with a Summit League leading 30 walks.
In 2025, Lienhard has been just as useful with a higher on-base percentage but has also belted six home runs in the last 30 games (she did not have one in her first 64 games as a Tommie).
She has been the Tommies' best hitter this season with team leading marks in on-base percentage (.506), slugging percentage (.600), and walks (31). Her 1.106 OPS would be a single-season program record if the season ended today.
The Tommies' starting shortstop has played in every game this season and sits in the Summit League Top 10 in: AVG. (5th), SLUG (5th), OBP. (1st), OPS (4th), hits (7th), doubles (8th), home runs (8th), total bases (9th), and walks (T-1st).
Mistake Free Softball
The Purple are 16-2 this season when they do not commit an error in a game. They are 36-33 all-time when they do not commit an error.
Before this season, the Tommies played 49 mistake-free games of softball out of 153 games or 32%. This season, they have 18 games without errors, 41% of their 44 games, a considerable defensive improvement.
Their team .970 fielding percentage is a single-season program record and currently second in the Summit League.
They have also limited the number of two-plus error games with just 10 this season as opposed to the 19 averaged across the last three seasons. The Tommies were 0-19 last season when committing two or more errors, they are 2-8 this season.
Fresh(man) Arm
The play of freshman Ava Kleinfeldt has been a revelation for the pitching staff and the Tommies as a whole. She has an 8-3 record and a 2.83 ERA in 89 innings pitched. That earned run average would be a program record if not for Ella Cook's tremendous 2.63 this season.
Kleinfeldt began the season 5-0 before losing her first career decision in a tight 3-1 ballgame against the University of Iowa. She has allowed more than three runs in an appearance only once and already has three career complete game shutouts.
Her nine strikeouts against New Mexico are a career high and the most by a true Tommie freshman since Christina Crawford's 19 strikeouts against Evansville in 2022. She struck out eight in her appearance against the Wisconsin Badgers.
Kleinfeldt has allowed seven earned runs in 23 innings over her last four appearances for a 2.13 ERA. The freshman has a 1.57 ERA in 35.2 innings of Summit League play, she is 4-0, one of two qualified pitchers with an undefeated conference record in the league.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Softball follow along on Instagram and Twitter at @TommieSoftball.
The Roos currently reside in last place in the Summit League with one lone win over the North Dakota State Bison on March 21st and have won just one game since then (1-15 during that stretch). Their last win was on April 16th against Western Illinois, 13-9. Since that win, they are 0-2 with a -30 run differential against Wichita State and Kansas.
St. Thomas holds the all-time series over the Roos, 5-4. The Purple have won each of the last two season series two games to one. The last time they played Kansas City at South Field they dropped game one 1-3 and then followed with 8-0 and 11-6 wins.
Redshirt junior, Grace Batdorf leads the way for the Roos with a .861 OPS. She is slashing .301/.354/.507 with six doubles and three home runs. She makes up 3/7 of the entire Kansas City home run total this season. The Kansas City pitching staff has combined for a 7.98 ERA, and is led by freshman, Riley Bebb, who has pitched 94.1 innings across 31 appearances and 15 starts.
Know Before You Go
On Saturday, April 26, Twin Cities in Motion is having a "Get in Gear" event with a 5K, 10K, and half-marathon. You will notice closures on Cretin Avenue to the west of Campus as well as various other street routes in St. Paul.
St. Paul Police Department will be stationed at various areas on Cretin to allow vehicle access to the UST campus. The Mississippi River Road will be blocked off starting early in the morning through the afternoon. Race day starts at 8:15am but setup and blockades will be up before dawn.
Expect congestion and delays. If possible, avoid the marathon routes.
For more detailed information, feel free to visit their website: Twin Cities "Get in Gear" Event - Saturday, April 26
It's a Whole Staff Kinda Thing
The Tommie pitching staff of Christina Crawford, Ella Cook, Keira Murphy, and Ava Kleinfeldt have combined for a program-best 3.33 ERA in 287.2 innings pitched this season. That is down from 5.86 last season and is the lowest in program history by 2.53 runs.
Most notably, they have all recorded a complete game shutout during 2025. Ella Cook was the first to do it on 2/8 against Green Bay (10-0 in five innings) followed by Ava Kleinfeldt on 2/23 in a 3-0 win over Incarnate Word. Christina Crawford followed that up with a 6-0 win over Wagner on 2/28 and then Keira Murphy pitched the program's first no-hitter on 3/2 in a 14-0 five-inning win over Wagner. Cook and Crawford have each added a second complete game shutout. The freshman, Kleinfeldt, leads the team with a single-season program record three CGSO.
Smashin' Cass
Cassidy Carby came into the 2025 season as the all-time home run leader for the Tommies with 13 and she currently leads the team with eight round trippers this season. The redshirt junior smashed a program-record eight home runs back in 2022.
Carby is having a career year with all-time bests in batting average, OBP, SLUG, OPS, runs, RBI, total bases, and doubles. Her .582 slugging percentage is second only to her teammate Laken Lienhard. She has set a new career high with 45 hits, there are six games remaining in the 2025 season. Carby became the fourth Tommie to surpass 100 career hits in her last game against the Green Bay Phoenix.
Her strikeout rate has also dropped precipitously this season; 29.6% in 2022, 26.5% in 2024, 19.8% in 2025. She has not struck out more than once in a game since 4/8 in game two against Wisconsin and has just five such games this season.
Hit it to the Lake
Laken Lienhard has truly found her power stroke this season. The senior shortstop was a tremendous asset in the lineup last season with a Summit League leading 30 walks.
In 2025, Lienhard has been just as useful with a higher on-base percentage but has also belted six home runs in the last 30 games (she did not have one in her first 64 games as a Tommie).
She has been the Tommies' best hitter this season with team leading marks in on-base percentage (.506), slugging percentage (.600), and walks (31). Her 1.106 OPS would be a single-season program record if the season ended today.
The Tommies' starting shortstop has played in every game this season and sits in the Summit League Top 10 in: AVG. (5th), SLUG (5th), OBP. (1st), OPS (4th), hits (7th), doubles (8th), home runs (8th), total bases (9th), and walks (T-1st).
Mistake Free Softball
The Purple are 16-2 this season when they do not commit an error in a game. They are 36-33 all-time when they do not commit an error.
Before this season, the Tommies played 49 mistake-free games of softball out of 153 games or 32%. This season, they have 18 games without errors, 41% of their 44 games, a considerable defensive improvement.
Their team .970 fielding percentage is a single-season program record and currently second in the Summit League.
They have also limited the number of two-plus error games with just 10 this season as opposed to the 19 averaged across the last three seasons. The Tommies were 0-19 last season when committing two or more errors, they are 2-8 this season.
Fresh(man) Arm
The play of freshman Ava Kleinfeldt has been a revelation for the pitching staff and the Tommies as a whole. She has an 8-3 record and a 2.83 ERA in 89 innings pitched. That earned run average would be a program record if not for Ella Cook's tremendous 2.63 this season.
Kleinfeldt began the season 5-0 before losing her first career decision in a tight 3-1 ballgame against the University of Iowa. She has allowed more than three runs in an appearance only once and already has three career complete game shutouts.
Her nine strikeouts against New Mexico are a career high and the most by a true Tommie freshman since Christina Crawford's 19 strikeouts against Evansville in 2022. She struck out eight in her appearance against the Wisconsin Badgers.
Kleinfeldt has allowed seven earned runs in 23 innings over her last four appearances for a 2.13 ERA. The freshman has a 1.57 ERA in 35.2 innings of Summit League play, she is 4-0, one of two qualified pitchers with an undefeated conference record in the league.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Softball follow along on Instagram and Twitter at @TommieSoftball.
Players Mentioned
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