Box Score

WAVERLY, Iowa — Believe it or not, the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team may actually want to thank-you note to former coach John Tschida for the Cardinals' 1-0 victory over Tschida's current team, St. Thomas, in the opening round of the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament Friday afternoon.

After all, it was Tschida who taught SMU sophomore Niki Lynch (Winona, Minn.) the intricacies of hitting at the collegiate level.

Unfortunately for Tschida, and fortunately for the Cardinals, he taught her too well.

Lynch laced a one-out double to center field in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring Jackie Huegel (Alta Vista, Iowa) from second with the game's only run as the Cardinals began defense of the regional crown in winning — albeit nerve-wracking — fashion.

“I owe a lot of Tschida — he's the one who taught me so much about the game,” admitted Lynch, who belted an 0-1 offering from the Tommies' Casey Curson into the gap in left-center to easily score Huegel, who reached on an error to open the inning and moved to second on a textbook sacrifice bunt by by Annie Hovde (Cottage Grove, Minn.). “I guess he beat himself by teaching us so well.”

Not only did her double send a message to her former coach, but it also made statement to her current coach — a statement Nikki Fennern heard it loud and clear.

“I've been struggling a bit at the plate,” admitted Lynch who entered the tournament batting .242 — lowest among the Cardinals' nine starters — and was pinch-hit for in her first at-bat against the Tommies in the second inning, with runners on first and second and two out. “But I knew I could get the job done, I just needed the chance to prove it to everyone else.”

She certainly made a believer out of the Tommies.

“Give Saint Mary's all the credit, they played a great game,” admitted Tschida, who guided SMU to four straight regional appearances and last year's national championship, before accepting the position at St. Thomas. “You never feel good about a loss, but if we're going to lose, I'd want it to be against a team like (Saint Mary's) — a team that's worked their tails off to get where they are.”

And that hard work paid off in a big way against the Tommies.

“We got some very clutch performances from a number of players — with Niki at the top of the list,” said Fennern, whose team faces top-seeded Wartburg — a 4-0 winner over Marian — in today's second round at 10 a.m. “That was a big hit for a number of reasons. Not only did drive in the winning run in a crucial situation, but with the way she's been struggling at the plate, and at-bat like that can do wonders for a person's confidence.”

Fennern admitted that her Cardinals — who readily admit that they expected to reach their fifth straight post-season tournament — showed a slight case of nerves prior to Friday's opener.

And the fact that Tschida was stalking the other sidelines only made things that much tougher.

“For as long as we have players that John coached, there is going to be that tension, that nervousness about playing their former coach,” admitted Fennern, whose team is now 2-1 against Tschida this season. “But like we said all week as we prepared for this game, we're not playing Tschida, we're playing St. Thomas. It doesn't matter how much (Tschida) knows about us, the players on the field still have to execute. And when it comes right down to it, we executed better than they did — that's the bottom line.”

The Tommies' fourth-inning failed executions actually kept the game scoreless through six innings — and helped set up Lynch's seventh-inning heroics.

After getting a lead-off groundout to open the fourth, SMU pitcher Jill Hocking (Apple Valley, Minn.) game up a walk and back-to-back singles — just two of the three hits the Cardinal senior allowed — to load the bases. Unfazed by the potential disaster unfolding before her, Hocking promptly struck out Shannon Moore looking and got Gina Utecht to flying out harmlessly to center field to end the threat.

“That was a huge momentum-turner,” said Fennern, whose team has now won four straight and 26 of its last 27 to improve to 32-6 overall. “When Jill got that strikeout for the second out, it really took the wind out of (St. Thomas') sails. That took the momentum right away from them.

“Our seniors really got the job done for us,” praised Fennern, referring to Hocking's three-hit gem, as well as the 2-for-3 performance at the plate from Jennifer Meyer (Oconomowoc, Wis.). “Those are the players who have been her before. Their experience and leadership were a big key.”

That, and a few hitting tips from their former coach.