• 1: The SMU fastpitch softball team earned its first-ever MIAC Playoff title last weekend with wins over Gustavus (3-1) and #18 Bethel (6-5). The title earned SMU the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA national tournament — it will be the Cardinals’ seven trip to the NCAAs in program history
• 2: Samantha Kubes (New Prague, Minn.) and Morgan Wallendal (Fond du Lac, Wis.) both collected All-MIAC honors for the SMU women’s track and field team at last weekend’s MIAC Outdoor Championships. Kubes was All-MIAC for the second year in a row in the hammer throw, placing third with a toss of 49.58 meters, while Wallendal added a second-place mark of 12.68 in the shot put.
• 2 x 2: Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.) swung a heavy bat for the Saint Mary’s fastpitch softball team, launching a pair of two-run home runs in helping the Cardinals claim their first-ever MIAC Playoff title last Saturday The junior drove in two of SMU’s three runs in the Cardinals’ 3-1 semifinal victory over Gustavus, clubbing a two-run bomb in the fourth inning. And in the MIAC Playoff championship game, Nordlund was at it again, delivering a two-run round-tripper as part of a four-run first inning in the Cardinals’ 6-5 victory over #18 Bethel.
• 3: Cam Miller (Kimberly, Wis.) matched his career high in hits, going 3-for-3 in the SMU baseball team’s Game 1 loss to Concordia last Monday. It was the third time Miller has posted a three-hit game.
• 3 + 4 = 2: Sam Knickerbocker (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Daniel Sherman (Richfield, Minn.) both collected three hits and drove in a career-high four runs in the SMU baseball team’s 19-4 win over Saint John’s in an MIAC Playoff elimination game last Friday.
• 5: The Cardinal baseball team was hit by a pitch a program record-tying five times in their 19-4 win over Saint John’s in last Friday’s MIAC Playoff-winning game. Ryan Csida (Kimberly, Wis.) and Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) were both plunked twice, while Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) was hit once).
• 7-1: The Saint Mary’s baseball team locked up its first MIAC Playoff berth since 2021 with a 7-1, Game 2 win over Concordia last Monday in Moorhead, Minn..
• 19: The SMU baseball team scored a season-high 19 runs in its 19-4 MIAC Playoff win over Saint John’s last Friday. It marked the second straight season in which the Cardinals have plated 19 runs in a game, having beaten Bethany Lutheran 19-9 a year ago.
• 21.25: Chris Bulwa (Glenview, Ill.) shattered the school record in the 200, breaking the tape in 21.25 to place fourth at last weekend’s MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Bulwa — who also finished third in the 100 and was part of the fourth-place 4x100 relay — is now sitting No. 20 in the nation in the 200.
