OPENING ROUND PREVIEW: Crusaders primed for big week

The Blue Raiders enter the tournament with a 38-9 record and are ranked fifth in the NAIA Coaches’ Top-25 Poll. They earned an at-large bid into the national championship field and are making their eighth appearance in an opening round with a 14-9 record. The host program started the year 28-0, but finished the season 10-9 which included a string of four consecutive shutout losses. They are 4-6 in their last 10 games and are coming off back-to-back losses in the Mid-South Conference Tournament. 

Makea-Al Kaluau leads offense with a .410 average in 156 at-bats. She has driven in a team-best 54 runs and scored 37 with 12 doubles and 16 home runs. Alexis Garayzar is second on the team (min. 100 at-bats) with a .349 average and 33 RBI while Mikayla Marquez is third at .324 with 34 runs scored and a team-high 23 stolen bases. 

Annabelle Ramierz is the staff ace with a 1.07 ERA in 164 innings pitched. She is 25-5 on the year with 19 complete games, nine shutouts, 291 strikeouts and 35 walks. Hannah Epperson is second on the team with a 2.81 ERA in 82.1 innings while Breanna Clark is third with a 3.59 ERA in 52.2 innings. 

The top seed in the opening round, Lindsey Wilson will face Brenau University (Ga.).

The Cougars enter the tournament ranked 14th in the NAIA and are making their seventh appearance in an opening round with a record of 13-10 in those games. This season St. Xavier is 33-2 and earned an automatic-bid to the opening round as the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament champions. They beat the Crusaders twice this season, 1-0 (5) and 8-1, and started the season 21-0. The Cougars enter the tournament on a six-game win streak and are 9-1 in their last 10, the lone loss a 9-6 defeat to St. Ambrose University (Iowa).

SXU is led offensively by Alexus Reese, Brittany Schultz and Lyda Robinson. Reese is hitting .508 in 61 at-bats, has a .770 slugging percentage and has scored 16 times with 20 RBI. Schultz has a .422 average in 90 at-bats with 34 runs scored, 30 RBI and five home runs. Robinson has a .415 mark in a team-high 130 at-bats. She is 30-for-31 on the bases and has scored a team-high 37 runs. 

In the circle the Cougars depend on Allison Golic who is 21-2 with a 1.05 ERA in 146.2 innings pitched with 217 strikeouts, 16 walks and a .161 opponent batting average. The other three pitchers have combined to throw 78.4 innings this season with 20 earned runs. The team has a 1.30 ERA over 226 innings pitched with 21 complete games and 18 shutouts. Golic has 18 complete games and has been a part of 13 shoutouts.

The Blue and Gold earned an automatic bid in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) as the tournament runner-up and are making their fifth appearance in the opening round with a 7-8 record in the previous four trips. MU is 30-8 on the season, had an 11-game win streak, and are 7-3 in their last 10 with two of the three losses coming to Aquinas College (Mich.), the WHAC champion.

The Crusaders offense runs through Kattie Popko who is third in the NAIA with a .508 average in 118 at-bats with 36 RBI and 31 runs scored. She is slugging .814 and is on pace to set numerous single seasons and career offensive records. Leadoff hitter Veronica Pezzoni is second on the team with a .413 average in 121 at-bats. She has scored 34 runs and is 18-for-19 on the bases. Three other Crusaders, Jenna Gilbert (.346), Emily Pawelski (.341), and Amy Clegg (.311), are hitting above .300. 

Maeson Schlaud leads the pitching staff with a 0.56 ERA in 62 innings pitched. She is 9-2 in seven starts with five complete games, one shutout, a save, 83 strikeouts to 15 walks and an opponent batting average of .208. Madisen Henry, the WHAC Pitcher of the Year, leads the team with 85.1 innings pitched and has a 2.38 ERA. She is 10-3 in 14 starts with seven complete games and two shutouts. She has struck out 84 against 19 walks. Ciera Jones has also eclipsed 60 innings this season and has a 3.31 ERA in 61.1 innings. She is 7-1 with 11 starts, two complete games, a shutout, and one save. She has 53 strikeouts to 14 walks.

The Tigers find themselves in the same opening round as the Crusaders for the second time in four years and enter the tournament 23-15. The Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Champion, Brenau is making its fifth opening round appearance and is 3-6 in those trips. The Tigers’ best win streak this season was six-in-a-row and they are 7-3 in their last 10 games, which includes the six-game win streak. 

Abigail Brown leads the offense with a .438 average in 89 at-bats with 15 runs scored and 33 driven in. Faith Grooms is second on the team with a .432 mark in 148 ABs and a team-high .743 slugging percentage. She has six doubles, five home runs, 51 runs scored and 41 RBI. She is also 27-for-31 on the bases. Hannah Patridge is third on the team in hitting at .390 (141 ab) and has a team-best eight home runs. 

Cameron Dillard leads the pitching staff with a 2.32 ERA in 141.2 innings pitched. She has a 17-6 record with 18 complete games and four shutouts. She has struck out 76 with 36 walks. Chloe Fambrough has the second most starts on the team with 13 and is 4-6 with four complete games, one shutout, a 5.09 ERA in 55 innings with 19 strikeouts and 25 walks. 

2015: No. 4 seed - Concordia (Calif.) Bracket - Irvine, California - 3-2; Crusaders lost in if necessary championship game 7-3 on a walk-off grand slam.

2017: No. 4 seed - Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) Bracket - Columbia, Kentucky - 2-2; Crusaders beat LWU 1-0, both losses came to Corban University (Ore.) who won the opening round.

2018: No. 4 seed - Bowling Green (Ky.) Bracket - Bowling Green, Kentucky - 1-2; Crusaders lost in consolation bracket to No. 2 seed and opening round champion Faulkner (Ala.), 6-5 (9 innings). 

2019: No. 4 seed - Columbia College (Mo.) Bracket - Columbia, Mo. - 1-2; MU defeated Brenau (Ga.) 1-0 in the consolation bracket and fell to the host Cougars 3-2.

vs. LWC: 2-4, MU is 2-2 in Columbia, Ky. including the 1-0 win in the 2017 NAIA Opening Round.

vs. SXU: 0-3, all games played indoors, SXU has outscored MU 14-2 in those meetings. Cougars won both meetings this season.

vs. BU: 1-0, lone meeting came in the opening round in 2019, a 1-0 MU win in Columbia, Mo. 

This week could see several single-season records broken:

• Kattie Popko
  • Batting Average: Currently at .508, record is .454 (Emma Cook, 2016)
  • Slugging Percentage: Currently at .814, record is .726 (Dawn Shaffer, 1996)
  • On-Base Percentage: Currently at .566, record is .518 (Morgan Kaiser, 2015)
  • Doubles: Currently at 17, record is 19 (Vicki Malkowski, 2000; Cat Sidor, 2008)
• Maeson Schlaud
  • ERA: Currently at .56, record is 1.02 (Madisen Henry, 2020)