Saint Xavier athletics is benefiting from tremendous seasons by several women’s sports including: volleyball, basketball, and now softball. The Women’s Volleyball team finished the year 21-13 with junior Melanie Miller earning a spot on the AVCA NAIA Mideast Region Team.
Women’s basketball just finished one of the best seasons in school history after going 30-4 overall. On top of the team success, four Cougars were named to the 2015-2016 All-CCAC Women’s Basketball Team.
The Saint Xavier Softball team is ranked 10 in the nation among Division II NAIA clubs, and boasts a strong 15-1 record so far this season. Like the baseball team, the softball squad enjoyed their spring break in Florida. They were busy, as the Cougars competed in 16 contests.
For senior Nicole Nonnemacher, there is one word to describe her 2016 season: unhittable. The Bloomington native in eight starts this year, and has already tossed three no-hitters, which increases her total to 10 in her impressive career. Overall, she is 8-0 with a 0.49 ERA and has 112 strikeouts compared to just nine walks in 57 innings pitched.
Complimenting Nonnemacher on the mound are sophomore Caroline Kuzel and junior Callie Brown. Each player is putting together a fine start to the season and will influence a lot of success the Cougars ultimately have. Nonnemacher can also rake with the stick. She is hitting .457 in 35 at-bats with one home run, three doubles, a triple, and 12 RBI.
Nonnemacher stands out because of her dominance on the mound and at the plate, but overall, this Cougars lineup is stacked with several powerhouse bats. Senior Kasey Kanaga, as well as juniors Savannah Kinsella and Brittany Plimmer, are hitting .400 or better. Plimmer is among the team leaders in slugging percentage and is first on the team in home runs with three.
As a team, the Cougars are slashing .368/.443/.532 with 12 home runs and 103 RBI. Saint Xavier is holding opponents, in comparison, to a slash line of .191/.237/.266 with seven home runs and 32 RBI.The difference is dramatic and the Cougars believe with their talent that their season will end in a victory.
Saint Xavier finished their trip to Clermont, Florida with back-to-back victories. On Saturday, March 12, dominant pitching performances by Nonnemacher and Kuzel propelled to the Cougars to 7-0 and 3-0 wins over Viterbo University and Saint Francis (Ind.). Senior shortstop Rebeka Ferguson and centerfielder Kasey Kanaga each had four hits on the day to help fuel the Cougars’ offense.
It was against Viterbo that Nonnemacher threw her third no-hitter of the season. In the game, she allowed two walks in seven innings while striking out 15 opposing batters. Nonnemacher was pleased with her offense, as they provided a quick 2-0 lead in the first. It was not until the fifth inning the Cougars added to its lead. Senior Rebeka Ferguson belted a home run to extend Saint Xavier’s lead to three.
With a dominant performance by Nonnemacher, the Cougars were able to coast to an easy victory. Saint Xavier tallied two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to cement their first win on the day. The Cougars got greedy and wanted to head back to Chicago with another win. Saint Francis (Ind.) stood in their way but fell short.
Kuzel got the call in the circle for game two on Saturday and put together a strong performance. She gave up eight hits, no walks and struck out five in six shutout innings. The Cougars erupted for three runs in the second inning, thanks in large part to two Saint Francis errors that resulted in two SXU runs. Kasey Kanaga had the lone RBI in the inning with a single.
Fresh off her no-hitter, Nonnemacher stepped in for the save in the seventh and limited Saint Francis to one hit. Saint Xavier finished the day with just one error, and totaled 10 runs on a combined 16 hits. It was a successful spring break for the softball team, and they will be back at it in Chicago for a doubleheader against Aquinas College on March 19.
Conference play for the Cougars begins on March 21 against number 25 University of Saint Francis (Ill.).
Mike Rankin
Sports Contributor
About Post Author
