The Tommie softball team celebrates winning the Summit League championship. St. Thomas beat North Dakota State 9-0 in five innings Saturday morning at South Field. (Victor Mshihiri/The Crest) 
The team earned its first conference title in the Division-I era. (Victor Mshihiri/The Crest) 
UST beat NDSU by run-rule for the second time in the weekend series. (Victor Mshihiri/The Crest) 
The Tommies finished with 33 overall wins and 14 in conference, both Division-I era records. (Victor Mshihiri/The Crest)
While St. Thomas softball went into its final game of the season uncertain if it would clinch its first D-I conference title, as the players marched through the five innings needed to wipe out NDSU 9-0 Saturday at home, the inevitability of their achievement soon sunk in.
“I got so emotional,” senior catcher Adrianna Young said. “I ran out to the outfield just realizing that we were in run rule territory, and I had faith in my team.”
The Tommies’ hopes of an outright conference title were dashed Friday when they wobbled to a 5-4 loss in the second game of the series, but their decisive 12-2 victory in the first game put them in striking range to share the Summit League title with 14-4 Omaha pending a strong showing in their final matchup with the Bison.
“Everybody was locked in today,” coach Jen Trotter said. “You didn’t have to talk them into getting up for today: that’s a given. They’ve been good all year, so I’m happy that they got to have today.”
The Tommie dugout grew louder and more boisterous throughout the game; by the end of the fourth, the team was erupting with encouragement for every stray foul ball or single. They soon grew to rival the cheers from the Bison dugout, which were silenced when a double play in the top of the fifth broke the tension and the Tommies rushed the infield, victorious.
The hoisting of the trophy — as well as that of a Gatorade cooler onto Trotter — wasn’t the only occasion for the post-game buzz, as St. Thomas recognized its four graduating seniors. Young, pitcher Christina Crawford, outfielder Kaitlyn Raymond and infielder Jenna Kuhn were all celebrated as members of the team’s first Division I recruiting class just as they collectively celebrated its first Division I title.
“It just feels like a complete feeling,” Young said. “This is the way I wanted to go out: on top.”
The day rounded things off in more ways than one. Senior outfielder Kaitlyn Raymond took the field for her 200th career game after having previously set the school record for the most played with her 199th on Friday.
Spectators huddled together in the packed stands, along the outfield fence and on the roof of Anderson Parking Facility, but the clear skies and bright sunlight kept the energy alive on the field. St. Thomas President Rob Vischer was among the spectators, and he and Athletic Director Phil Esten joined in celebrating the team on the field post-game.
The pressure was unusual, Trotter said, but the players’ resilience coming off of Friday’s loss was not.
“This team hasn’t been in position to have to go and win a championship, and it showed a little yesterday afternoon,” Trotter said. “But again, they just never disappoint on how they answer back when we have some adversity like that, and how they respond, that’s been a key to us all here.”
That bounce-back was uncertain, even after an early run from junior centerfielder Avery Wukawitz in the first inning, until senior shortstop Laken Lienhard revved up the Tommies’ scoring with a home run to kick off the bottom of the third. Then, back-to-back hits put the team up two more runs for a 4-0 lead.
If the Tommies had any more reason to fear a slump, the five-run fourth inning silenced them. A double from senior pitcher Ella Cook with bases loaded set the team to an unrecoverable lead.
“We got up to six runs, and then with our defense and Ava (Kleinfeldt) doing what they were doing, I’m like, ‘I don’t think they’re going to score six on us,’” Trotter said.
Trotter said that she looks to “rising stars” on the team to continue its success in coming years. Meanwhile, both she and Young said they were glad to see this season’s work receive its inevitable payoff.
“I’ve always had faith in my team this whole year, just getting to watch them grow, getting to be more and more excited about who we were becoming, not individually, but together,” Young said. “ … We had started out stronger than ever before, and it’s just cool to be a part of.”
Kevin Lynch can be reached at lync1832@stthomas.edu.
