University of St. Thomas Athletics
Sunday, March 29
St. Paul, Minn. / South Field
12:00 p.m. CT
22-10, 4-1
4
vs
1
South Dakota
10-24-1, 2-3
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
South Dakota
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
St. Thomas (Minn.)
0
0
1
2
1
0
X
4
4
1
Kleinfeldt tosses one-hitter as Softball secures series win over South Dakota
3/29/2026 2:32:00 PM | Softball
The Tommies claim their second straight Summit League series with a 4-1 victory
SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Ava Kleinfeldt rebounded in dominant fashion Sunday, tossing a one-hit complete game to lead St. Thomas softball (23-10, 5-1 Summit League) to a 4-1 win over South Dakota (10-25-1, 2-4 Summit League) at South Field
After a shortened outing in Saturday's doubleheader, the sophomore was nearly untouchable, allowing just one hit, a solo home run in the first inning, while controlling the game the rest of the way. Kleinfeldt finished with three stirkeouts and induced 16 groundouts, with just two balls leaving the infield all afternoon.
South Dakota's lone hit came off the bat of Brooke Carey with two outs in the opening frame. From there, Kleinfeldt allowed only two walks and one runner on an error, shutting the door over the final six innings. She retired the last six batters in order, including a three-pitch seventh inning that featured three consecutive groundouts.
Defensively, the Tommies were sharp behind her, highlighted by eight chances handled cleanly by Cassidy Carby at third base.
St. Thomas evened the score in the bottom of the third. Laken Lienhard led off with a single before Miley Wichman entered as a pinch runner and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Ella Cook followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1.
The Tommies took the lead for good in the fourth inning. Back-to-back walks to Maddy Freking and Zoe Trotter set the table, and both runners moved up on a dropped third strike. Lienhard then delivered a line dricw3 that resulted in a fielding error, allowing both runs to score and giving St. Thomas a 3-1 advantage.
An insurance run came in the fifth when Cook doubled to lead off the inning, moved to third on a passed ball, and scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 4-1.
Up Next
St. Thomas returns to South Field for a midweek matchup against Minnesota on Wednesday, April 1 at 4 pm.
Follow Along
For any and all information pertaining to the St. Thomas softball team, follow along on Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) at @TommieSoftball.
After a shortened outing in Saturday's doubleheader, the sophomore was nearly untouchable, allowing just one hit, a solo home run in the first inning, while controlling the game the rest of the way. Kleinfeldt finished with three stirkeouts and induced 16 groundouts, with just two balls leaving the infield all afternoon.
South Dakota's lone hit came off the bat of Brooke Carey with two outs in the opening frame. From there, Kleinfeldt allowed only two walks and one runner on an error, shutting the door over the final six innings. She retired the last six batters in order, including a three-pitch seventh inning that featured three consecutive groundouts.
Defensively, the Tommies were sharp behind her, highlighted by eight chances handled cleanly by Cassidy Carby at third base.
St. Thomas evened the score in the bottom of the third. Laken Lienhard led off with a single before Miley Wichman entered as a pinch runner and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Ella Cook followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1.
The Tommies took the lead for good in the fourth inning. Back-to-back walks to Maddy Freking and Zoe Trotter set the table, and both runners moved up on a dropped third strike. Lienhard then delivered a line dricw3 that resulted in a fielding error, allowing both runs to score and giving St. Thomas a 3-1 advantage.
An insurance run came in the fifth when Cook doubled to lead off the inning, moved to third on a passed ball, and scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 4-1.
Up Next
St. Thomas returns to South Field for a midweek matchup against Minnesota on Wednesday, April 1 at 4 pm.
Follow Along
For any and all information pertaining to the St. Thomas softball team, follow along on Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) at @TommieSoftball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kleinfeldt, Ava (8-3)
L: Madison Evans (6-10)
Batting:
HR: Brooke Carey 1
RBI: Brooke Carey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brooke Carey 1
SB: Sara Iburg 1
Batting:
2B: Cook, Ella 1
RBI: Cook, Ella 1
SH: Carby, Cassidy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wichman, Miley 1 ; Cook, Ella 1 ; Konkol, Gracie 1 ; Trotter, Zoe 1
HBP: Lienhard, Laken 1
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/UT
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballSS
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
Ut.
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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
