Oracle Online

The Pipers softball team clinched a fourth-seed playoff berth with a record of 13-8-1 in the MIAC. By securing the final post-season spot, the Pipers played first place St. Thomas in the tournament’s opening round. The Tommies were 22-0 in conference play in 2007 and beat the Pipers convincingly in every meeting of the teams. The Pipers had a lot going for them leading up to the playoffs, though.

Unlike many athletic programs at Hamline, the softball program is regularly a preseason pick for playoffs. The season started out shaky but when the Pipers got into the thick of the conference season, the team turned on the burners and rattled off an impressive stretch of quality play. At one point, the Pipers had won nine of 10 games. The burners seemed to have cooled just before the season ended though, as the Pipers limped into the playoffs losing two non-conference games to Stout (1-2 and 2-10) three days before going toe-to-toe with the MIAC’s best. St. Thomas entered last Friday’s game as the number one ranked team in Division III fast pitch softball.

“We just played really good teams on Friday. Their is a reason why St. Thomas is number one in the nation,” said Hamline softball Coach Janelle Tieken.

In both games, the Pipers found themselves in a four run deficit by the second inning. The Tommies offense came down hard on sophomore starter Theresa Boleen and capitalized on three Piper defensive errors early in the second to take the lead and keep it. Hamline allowed four runs that inning before allowing another four before the game’s conclusion.

Thanks to a botched grounder by the Pipers, St. Thomas had its first runner aboard. Said runner promptly and successful stole second base and then was advanced to third thanks to ground out. The Tommies got lucky on a sacrifice bunt that became a single and they scored their first run with one out in the second inning. An error due to sloppy defense allowed another run to score. The runner that Boleen put on base by hitting with a pitch would later come around to score. A pattern developed. A Tommie single would be followed by a Piper error and an RBI would ensue. Yet again, the Tommies reached on a single and the next batter hit a ball to left field that was not fielded cleanly. The left fielder, sophomore Grace Weinrich, was officially charged with an error. The Tommies scored their fourth run of the inning.

The Pipers were clearly over matched. The Pipers could not muster any offense against the St. Thomas pitchers. The Tommies struck out once in the game compared to Hamline’s ten. The usually serviceable Piper defense was not coming together. Boleen, the Piper’s top pitcher, was not as effective as Hamline may have hoped. Boleen pitched a complete game loss, struck out one batter, allowing 10 hits, four earned runs, and three walks in the game. Boleen pitched both games because first-year Rachel Roberts was “unavailable” according to Coach Janelle Tieken.

One loss away from elimination, the Pipers next game was against St. Mary’s. The Cardinals (17-5) claimed the third seed in the conference. Once again, the Pipers were down by four runs in the second inning. The Cardinals scored two runs in the first inning and scored another two runs in the second, off the seemingly rubber-armed Boleen. The Pipers just couldn’t get anything started for themselves all day.

In the first inning, sophomore Jourdan Ulrich was thrown out at second by the Cardinal catcher. An unusual scene, considering Ulrich had not been caught stealing all season. She was 12 for 12 in steals. Further proof that nothing was going Hamline’s way. That’s not to say St. Mary’s wasn’t heping their own cause.

The Cardinals are a very good offensive club. Timely hitting was abundant for St. Mary's as they teed off against the Pipers. A single, a walk and a base clearing double put St. Mary’s on the board in the bottom of the first inning. later in the bottom of the sixth, St. Mary’s would score again after reaching base thanks to poor defense.

The Pipers’ only run of the 2007 MIAC Tournament, came after a Cardinal error. The Pipers scored in the sixth inning. After reaching base on a single early in the inning, Ulrich advanced to third on a sacrifice ground out. Ulrich was rescued from third base when Weinrich reached second base on a defensive error. The Pipers went on to lose the game 7-1, thus eliminating them from the MIAC post-season.

The loss was Boleen’s second complete game loss of the playoffs. The pitcher gave up 10 hits, allowed six earned runs, walked seven batters and only struck out two in six innings of work. “We have complete confidence in Theresa [Boleen]. She just faced really good hitters,” said Tieken.
The playoff appearance was the Pipers’ third in the last four years. This team is likely to make another run next year too. The only graduating player is senior Holly Wiborg. The team currently has no juniors on the roster either. It is primarily a class of sophomores, who are competing with the best of D-III softball in the country. Without a doubt this will be a learning experience for the players and can only make them better as they make future playoff pushes.

“[This season] was a very rewarding coaching experience. I was very proud to be a part of Hamline softball this year. This young team really means a lot to me...I won’t make any predictions but we had a lot of sophomores and freshmen get a lot of playing experience and they can use that only to get better and it is only going to create good things for the future.” said Tieken.