SPRING
REVIEW
softball
RECORD
36-18 (13-3)
Summit League
Summit League Champions
(Lost in NCAA Minneapolis Regional)
Photo By Richard Svaleson
MVP
ALEX SOBRERO
“I’d say she’s old school, blue
collar. She never makes excuses
for anything and always has a
smile on her face. She is always
just happy to be at practice and a
lot of players look up to that, so
she really stood out.”
Head Coach Darren Mueller
awards
ALEX SOBRERO – Jr. Outfielder
1st Team All-League
CHEYENNE GARCIA – So. Second baseman
2nd Team All-League
JENINA ORTEGA – Sr. Catcher
2nd Team All-League
JACKIE STIFTER – Sr. Designated Player
2nd Team All-League
KRISTA MENKE – Jr. Pitcher
1st Team All-League, Summit League
Tournament MVP
COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR
20
B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • AU G U S T 2 014
T
he tone for an entire season
is rarely conceived during the
first tournament or first month
of the season. The tone is developed
the first time a team’s back is against
the wall. The Bison were favorites to
win the Summit League after falling
short in 2013. The first conference
series of the season was played on the
road against a hungry IUPUI team.
The score was 1-1 when IUPUI had
the bases loaded with no outs in the
bottom of the seventh. The tone was
ready to be set.
“There were a lot of times when
we challenged our kids throughout
the year,” said co-head coach Jamie
Trachsel. “This was a good growing
moment; we need you guys to perform
now. And they did it.”
The Bison were a young team this
season, and through the inexperience,
they came out victorious against
IUPUI in the first Summit League
game of the season after a tremendous
pitching display by Krista Menke.
Sophomore Cheyenne Garcia broke
the tie with a home run in the top of
the ninth. Getting out of the seventh
inning jam and coming from behind to
win instilled the resilience the Bison
discovered during the 2014 season.
IUPUI wasn’t the last time the Bison
resilience was put to the test. The
Bison found themselves with their
backs against the wall after losing
their first game of the Summit League
tournament. “It was do or die time
after that,” head coach Darren Mueller
said, mentioning a team meeting he
called the next day. “No one in that
meeting honestly thought we couldn’t
come back and win the tournament,”
Trachsel said.
The tone that was set earlier in
the season against IUPUI pushed
the Bison through the rest of the
tournament, as they went on to
win five elimination games in a
row. It was the fifth Summit League
Championship in six years for the
Bison. And the icing on the cake was
added when they went down to the
Minneapolis Regional and defeated
Auburn in the first round.
The Bison were bounced out of the
tournament two games later, but
Mueller and Trachsel know they will
be back for more in 2015.
“They’re coming back early to work
out and they have lofty goals,” said
Trachsel. “But they’re ready to put
their money where their mouth is.”