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DeStigter A First-Team Academic All-American
Mustangs Break Three School Records During 2009 Campaign
DeStigter Named A NAIA Honorable Mention All-American
Backhaus And DeStigter Named NAIA Scholar-Athletes
Mustangs Win National Tournament Finale
Defending National Champs Pull Away From Mustangs In Late Innings
Mustangs Drop National Tournament Opener
DeStigter Named To Academic All-District First-Team
Mustangs Place Three On All-GPAC First-Team
DeStigter Is GPAC Player Of The Week
Mustangs Win GPAC Title And Secure National Tournament Berth
DeStigter Earns Player Of The Week Honor
Klein Is GPAC Player Of The Week
Mustangs Top GPAC Pre-Season Poll
 Cara DeStigter, a senior outfielder from Dakota Dunes, S.D., has been named to the first team of the 2009 ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic All-America Softball Team as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
DeStigter has a 3.96 cumulative grade point average (GPA) with majors in biology and chemistry.
She was the leading hitter this past season for a Morningside team that had a 34-21 record and won the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) championship en route to its first NAIA National Tournament appearance since 1982. DeStigter paced the Mustangs with a .387 batting average to go along with 10 doubles, one triple, and a team-high eight home runs and 55 RBIs.
Student-athletes must be of at least sophomore athletic and academic status, be a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletic credentials, and have a minimum GPA of 3.30 in order to be eligible for ESPN The Magazine Academic honors.
Click here for the complete 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic-All-America Softball Team.
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Kelly Baumert |
Kendra Klein |
Kelly Baumert, Kendra Klein and Kylie Helmink all broke school records during the 2009 softball season.
Baumert, a junior pitcher from Omaha, Neb., pitched a team-high 11 shutouts this season to raise her career total to 29 shutouts to break the former Morningside record of 28 career shutouts shared by Jeree Carlson (1993-96) and Whitney McElrath (2005-08).
Baumert was the Mustangs’ leader in almost every pitching category this season. She fashioned a 24-13 record with a 1.76 earned run average, one save, 40 appearances, 37 starts, and 33 complete games. Baumert allowed 203 hits and had 235 strikeouts and 73 base on balls in 239 innings pitched. Her 24 victories and 235 strikeouts were the third highest single-season totals in Morningside history. Baumert also ranks third in the Morningside record book with 70 career victories and 569 career strikeouts.
Klein, a senior third baseman from Remsen, Iowa, was hit by a pitch a team-high 15 times this season and was hit by a pitch 27 times in her career to break the former Morningside career record held by Jeanette Strub, who was hit by a pitch 19 times from 1992-95. Klein finished her career with 177 runs batted in and 96 base on balls for the second highest totals in Morningside history behind the school-record totals of 188 career RBIs by Mindi Prince (1994-97) and 98 career walks by Jenna Jurrens (2004-07).
Aside from leading the Mustangs in times hit by pitch, Klein also topped the team with a .444 on-base percentage. She batted .304 with eight doubles, four home runs, and 37 RBIs.
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Kylie Helmink |
Helmink, a sophomore second baseman from Fairbury, Neb., walked 36 times to break Klein’s former school record of 31 base on balls in 2007. Aside from leading the Mustangs in walks, Helmink also topped the team with 11 doubles, three triples, seven stolen bases, and 40 runs scored. She hit .304 with 16 RBIs.
Cara DeStigter, a senior outfielder from Dakota Dunes, S.D., was the Mustangs’ leading hitter with a team-high 63 hits in 163 at-bats for a .387 batting average. DeStigter slugged 10 doubles and one triple and led the Mustangs with eight home runs, 55 RBIs, and a .607 slugging percentage. Her 55 RBIs was the second highest single-season total in Morningside history.
Jerra Steffen, a senior shortstop from Moville, Iowa, led the Mustangs with 17 sacrifices for the fourth highest single-season total in Morningside history.
Morgan Swanson, a freshman pitcher from Story City, Iowa, held the opposition to a .220 batting average to lead the Mustangs’ pitchers in that category. Swanson, who surrendered only 63 hits in 77 innings pitched, had a 7-5 record with a 2.73 earned run average, four shutouts, and eight complete games in 12 starts. She walked 34 batters and struck out 37.
Morningside posted a 34-21 record during the 2009 season and won the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) regular season championship en route to its first NAIA National Tournament appearance since 1982.
 Cara DeStigter, a senior outfielder from Dakota Dunes, S.D., has been named to the honorable mention list of the 2009 NAIA All-America Softball Team.
DeStigter was the leading hitter for a Morningside team that finished the season with a 34-21 record, won the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) regular season championship, and made its first NAIA National Tournament appearance since 1982.
DeStigter collected a team-high 63 hits in 163 at-bats for a .387 batting average with 10 doubles, one triple, and a team-high eight home runs and 55 runs batted in. DeStigter also paced the Mustangs with a .607 slugging percentage. Her statistics also included 19 runs scored, 11 base on balls, and two stolen bases.
She was named the GPAC Player of the Week twice during the regular season and was also an All-GPAC first-team selection. DeStigter was named a Daktronics-NAIA Softball Scholar-Athlete and was named to the ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic All-District VII First-Team.
Click here for the complete 2009 NAIA All-America Softball Team.
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Sasha Backhaus |
Cara DeStigter |
Sasha Backhaus, a junior outfielder from Westside, Iowa, and Cara DeStigter, a senior outfielder from Dakota Dunes, S.D., have been named Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes in the sport of softball.
Backhaus has a 3.86 cumulative grade point average (GPA) with a major in studio art.
DeStigter has a 3.96 cumulative GPA with majors in biology and chemistry. She received first-team ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic All-District VII honors in softball and Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete laurels in women’s golf earlier this spring.
DeStigter was the Mustangs’ leading hitter this season with a .387 batting average and led the team with eight home runs and 55 RBIs.
Student-athletes must be of at least junior academic status and have a minimum GPA of 3.50 in order to be eligible for Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors.
Morningside posted a 34-21 record this season and won the Great Plains Athletic Conference championships to earn its first NAIA National Tournament berth since 1982.
Click here for the complete list of 2009 Daktronics-NAIA Softball Scholar-Athletes.
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Kelly Baumert |
Brandi Burke |
Morningside went out a winner at the NAIA Softball National Championships when it defeated Asbury College 2-0 in Monday’s pool play finale in Decatur, Ala.
The Mustangs went 1-2 in the pool play competition at the national tournament to finish the campaign with a record of 34-21.
Morningside ace pitcher Kelly Baumert overpowered the Asbury lineup by twirling a one-hit shutout and Brandi Burke staked the Mustangs to an early 1-0 lead with a clutch two-out RBI single in the bottom of the third inning.
Baumert, who improved to 24-13 while pitching her 11th shutout of the season, surrendered her only hit when April Lancaster reached on a bunt single with one out in the fifth inning. She recorded five of her nine strikeouts the first time through the Eagles’ lineup.
Asbury’s Carrie Wilderman blanked the Mustangs through the first two innings before Morningside scored the only run it would need with a two-out rally in the bottom of the third. Kylie Helmink started things off when she worked Wilderman for a walk and moved into scoring position with a steal of second base. That set the stage for Burke, who singled to right-center to plate Helmink for a 1-0 lead.
Wilderman didn’t allow another run until the sixth inning when Emily Wassom came off the bench to deliver a clutch two-out RBI single to right field. Wassom’s hit drove in Sasha Backhaus, who was in the game as a pinch-runner for Jerra Steffen, who started the rally with a single to center field. Backhaus advanced to second base after a walk to Ann Hutson.
Morningside finished with five hits against Wilderman. Burke had two of them with a pair of singles. The Mustangs’ other hits were singles by Steffen, Hutson, and Wassom.
Box
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Alisha Wheat |
Cara DeStigter |
The final score was lopsided, but second-ranked Lubbock Christian knew they were in a battle when the defending NAIA National Champions defeated Morningside 8-1 in Friday’s pool play action at the NAIA Softball National Championships in Decatur, Ala.
The Lady Chaparrals led just 2-1 through six innings before they broke the game open with a six-run seventh.
In fact, the Mustangs threatened to take the lead when the Mustangs had the bases loaded with one out and their best two hitters coming to the plate in a 1-1 game in the bottom of the fifth. The Mustangs loaded the bases on a single by Alisha Wheat and walks to Kylie Helmink and Brandi Burke. Kelly Griego, who relieved Lubbock Christian starter Alyssa Gutierrez during the inning, pitched out of the jam by getting Kendra Klein to bounce into a fielder’s choice where Wheat was thrown out at home and by striking out Cara DeStigter to end the inning.
Lubbock Christian scored an unearned run in the top of the sixth to take the lead for good. The inning began harmlessly enough when Morningside pitcher Kelly Baumert retired the first two batters before Amanda Parsons singled to left field. The Mustangs gave their opponent an extra out when Gutierrez reached safely on an error by the second baseman and the Lady Chaps made them pay when Sabrina Hernandez delivered a RBI single that drove in Daniela Garcia, who pinch-ran for Parsons.
Things came crashing down on the Mustangs in the seventh when Lubbock Christian broke the game open with a six-run inning. The Lady Chaps had six hits during the frame, including a three-run double by Parsons and a two-run double by Hernandez.
Gutierrez and Mustang pitcher Kelly Baumert traded goose eggs through the first three innings before each team broke through for a run in the fourth.
Lubbock Christian scored an unearned run when Ginalee Davis led off with a single, advanced to third on a single by Griego, and scored on a throwing error by the rightfielder.
Morningside tied the score in the bottom of the inning when DeStigter singled and eventually scored on a passed ball. The Mustangs, who left nine runners on base in the contest, threatened to take the lead with runners on second and third before the Lady Chaps turned a first-to-home double play on a bouncer by Kayla Clarey.
DeStigter and Wheat each had two singles to pace an eight-hit Morningside offensive attack. The other hits were singles by Klein, Clarey, Jerra Steffen, and Ann Hutson.
The Lady Chaps collected 13 hits against Baumert, who finished with three walks and one strikeout.
The loss dropped the Mustangs’ record to 33-21 and eliminated their chances to advance from beyond the pool play competition. Morningside will face Asbury in its pool play finale on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Lubbock Christian climbed to 53-5 going into its pool play finale against Shorter.
Box
 Libby Munson pitched a three-hit shutout and contributed three hits to her team’s offensive attack to lead 18th-ranked Shorter to a 4-0 victory against Morningside in Thursday’s opening day of pool play competition at the NAIA Softball National Championships in Decatur, Ala.
The Mustangs, 33-20, will face No. 2 Lubbock Christian, the reigning NAIA National Champion, at noon on Friday and will then face unranked Asbury on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The winner of each of the tournament’s eight pools will advance to a double-elimination championship bracket.
Shorter avenged a 2-1 loss against the Mustangs during the regular season when the teams met on March 6 in the Lead Off Classic at Panama City Beach, Fla. One swing of the bat from Kylie Tirado cost Munson a shutout in that game when the Morningside sophomore blasted a two-run home run in the second inning.
Munson, who pitched a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts in this season’s first meeting, struck out nine Mustangs in the rematch. After she allowed a two-out single to Kylie Helmink in the third inning, Munson didn’t surrender another hit until Ann Hutson and Kayla Clarey had back-to-back singles with two outs in the seventh.
Morningside ace Kelly Baumert had nine strikeouts in this season’s prior meeting, but the Lady Hawks’ hitters put the ball in play and had no strikeouts in the rematch.
Shorter led wire-to-wire after it scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Amanda Albertson led off the inning with an infield single. A Munson single advanced Albertson to third base, where she eventually scored when Dandi Ammons reached base on an error by the second baseman.
The Lady Hawks broke the game open with a three-run third inning that featured a two-run, two-out single by Charlsie Broome. Shorter took advantage of three hits, two walks, and a throwing error by the shortstop during the inning. Munson started the uprising with a leadoff double for the game’s only extra base hit.
Munson and Amanda Rogers, who had a pair of singles, combined for five of Shorter’s eight hits.
Box Score
 Cara DeStigter, a senior outfielder from Dakota Dunes, S.D., has been named to the ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic All-District 7 First-Team as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
As a first-team all-district selection, DeStigter will go on the ballot for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America voting.
DeStigter has a 3.96 cumulative grade point average (GPA) with majors in biology and chemistry. She earned Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors in volleyball earlier in her career.
DeStigter is the leading hitter for a Morningside softball team that won this year’s Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) championship and will take a 33-19 record into next week’s NAIA Softball National Championships in Decatur, Ala. She has 61 hits in 153 at-bats for a .399 batting average with 10 doubles, one triple, and a team-high eight home runs and 55 RBIs. DeStigter also tops the Mustangs with a .634 slugging percentage and is second on the team with a .440 on-base percentage.
Student-athletes must be of at least sophomore athletic and academic status, be a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletic credentials, and have a minimum GPA of 3.30 in order to be eligible for ESPN The Magazine Academic honors.
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Kelly Baumert |
Cara DeStigter |
Kendra Klein |
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Jessica Jones-Sitzmann |
Kelly Baumert, a junior pitcher from Omaha, Neb.; Cara DeStigter, a senior outfielder from Dakota Dunes, S.D; and Kendra Klein, a senior third baseman from Remsen, Iowa, were all named to the first team of the 2009 All-Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Softball Team as selected by the league’s head coaches.
In addition to their three first-team selections, the Mustangs’ Jessica Jones-Sitzmann was named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Co-Coach of the Year after she led Morningside to the GPAC regular season championship and its first NAIA National Tournament berth since 1982. The Mustangs will take a 33-19 record to the national tournament, which starts on May 14 at Decatur, Ala.
Baumert as a 23-11 record with a 1.63 earned run average and 10 shutouts. She has allowed only 181 hits and 66 base on balls in 219 innings pitched and has limited the opposition to a .219 batting average. She has a career-high 225 strikeouts and is averaging 1.0 strikeouts per inning pitched.
DeStigter is the Mustangs’ leading hitter with 61 hits in 153 at-bats for a .399 batting average with 10 doubles, one triple, and a team-high eight home runs, 55 RBIs, and.634 slugging percentage. DeStigter has 11 walks and 18 runs scored.
Klein has 44 hits in 141 at-bats for a .312 batting average with eight doubles, four home runs, 37 RBIs, 31 runs scored, and 22 walks. She leads the Mustangs with a .449 on-base percentage.
In addition to their three first-team selections, the Mustangs’ placed Kylie Helmink, a sophomore second baseman from Fairbury, Neb., on the All-GPAC honorable mention list.
Helmink leads the Mustangs with 33 base on balls for the highest single-season walk total in Morningside history. Helmink also tops the team with 11 doubles, three triples, 39 runs scored, and six stolen bases. She has a .311 batting average with 16 RBIs.
Click here for the complete 2009 All-GPAC Softball Team.
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Kelly Baumert |
Kendra Klein |
Morningside clinched an outright GPAC softball championship and secured its first NAIA National Tournament berth since 1982 when it defeated Doane College 3-0 in the opener of Friday’s GPAC doubleheader at the Jensen Softball Complex.
The Mustangs, who lost the nightcap 3-2, won this year’s GPAC title with an 18-6 league mark and will compete in the 2009 NAIA National Tournament scheduled for May 14-20 in Decatur, Ala.
In the opener, Morningside’s Kelly Baumert pitched her way out of some early jams to finish with a four-hit shutout against the top hitting team in the GPAC.
Baumert, 18-9, stranded Doane runners in scoring position in the second, third, and fourth innings before she proceeded to retire the Tigers’ final 10 hitters of the game. Four of Baumert’s six strikeouts in the game came when Doane had runners in scoring position.
Doane pitcher Emily Larson no-hit the Mustangs through the first three innings before the Mustangs shelled her for five hits in the fourth inning when they scored the only three runs of he game. Kendra Klein opened the inning with a double into the left-center field gap. Klein advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored when Cara DeStigter grounded a single between the third baseman and shortstop. The Mustangs scored again when Kayla Clarey delivered a clutch two-out single that scored Amanda VonEhwegen, who was in the game as a pinch-runner for DeStigter. Alyx Peery and Brandi Burke followed with back-to-back singles to bring home Clarey with the third run of the inning.
The Mustangs’ five hits in the fourth inning were their only hits of the game against Larson, who walked two and struck out four.
Doane took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning of the nightcap and wasted an opportunity to do even more damage when it left the bases loaded. The Mustangs also left the bases full in the bottom half of the inning, but not before they scored two runs on RBI singles by DeStigter and Emily Wassom.
That was all the scoring until Doane rallied with two runs in the top of the seventh inning. The big hit was a double by Deidre Cardoza that put runners at second and third with no outs to set up a RBI groundout by Amber Remmers that tied the score and a RBI infield single by Whitney Poole that scored what proved to be the game-winner.
Tiger ace Jennifer Liddell blanked the Mustangs on one hit over the final six innings after her first inning escape. Liddell, 11-8, walked three and struck out one.
Doane collected nine hits against Morningside’s Morgan Swanson, 7-5, who walked one and struck out two.
DeStigter had two of the Mustangs’ four hits with a pair of singles.
Game One Box
Game Two Box
 Cara DeStigter, a senior outfielder from Dakota Dunes, S.D., has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Softball Player of the Week for April 20-26.
DeStigter had nine hits in 12 at-bats for a .750 batting average with a double, triple, and 10 RBIs to lead the Mustangs to a 3-1 record and wrap up the GPAC’s regular season championship.
Morningside, which earned a NAIA National Tournament berth as the GPAC’s regular season champion, is the No. 1 seed for this week’s GPAC Tournament slated for Thursday through Saturday at Sioux City’s SYA Complex. The Mustangs will take a 28-17 record into a first round game against Dordt College on Thursday at 2 p.m.
Cara DeStigter, a senior designated hitter from Dakota Dunes, S.D., has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Softball Player of the Week.
DeStigter had 13 hits in 22 at-bats for a .591 batting average to lead the Mustangs to a 5-1 record last week. She slugged five home runs and had 14 RBIs. DeStigter slugged two home runs and had five RBIs in a 10-1 win against Northwestern College on March 19 and had two home runs and five RBIs in a 9-6 victory against Mount Marty College on March 22.
DeStigter is the Mustangs’ leading hitter with a .400 batting average to go along with a team-high six doubles, six home runs, and 26 RBIs.
Morningside will take a 12-9 record into this weekend’s Morningside Invitational on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the SYA Complex.
 Kendra Klein, a senior third baseman from Remsen, Iowa, has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Softball Player of the Week.
Klein had 10 hits in 16 at-bats for a .625 batting average with a home run and seven RBI’s to help the Mustangs go 4-1 at last weekend’s McPherson College Invitational in McPherson, Kan. She went three-for-three with a home run and four RBIs to lead the Mustangs to a 10-2 victory against McPherson in their tourney opener and then went three-for-three with two RBIs in the Mustangs’ next game when they defeated Sterling College 8-1.
Klein, a second-team NAIA All-American last season, is batting .366 with a team-high two home runs and 14 RBIs so far this season.
Morningside will take a 7-8 record into a Tuesday doubleheader against College of St. Mary in Omaha, Neb.
 Morningside is picked No. 1 in the GPAC coaches' 2009 pre-season poll.
The Mustangs received seven of the 13 first place votes to top the poll with 139 points. Midland Lutheran is second with 128 points and defending champion Concordia is third with 115 points.
Morningside posted a 40-12 record in 2008 for its school-record sixth consecutive 30-win season, including 40-victory campaigns each of the last three years. The Mustangs won the 2008 GPAC Tournament to qualify for the NAIA Region III Tournament for their fifth straight regional tourney appearance.
Click here for the 2009 GPAC pre-season poll.
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