All-MIAC Award Winners

WINONA, Minn. — For Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) and Stanzy Snyder (Johnston, Iowa), twice really is nice.
 
Betzold and Snyder enjoyed banner years for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team this season—Snyder as one of the Cardinals' top offensive performers, and Betzold as opposing team's worst nightmare, both at the plate and in the pitcher's circle.
 
And Monday afternoon, the duo were recognized for their efforts—again.
 
Betzold and Snyder were named to the All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First-Team for the second year in a row—and this time around, they brought along some company, as Mariah Harper joined the Cardinal pair on the All-MIAC First-Team.
 
NCAA national qualifiers St. Thomas and St. Catherine swept the conference's top honors, as the Tommies' Kierstin Anderson-Glass won the MIAC Pitcher and Rookie of the Year honors, while the Wildcats' Robyn Rohr was the MIAC Player of the Year and SCU head coach Colleen Powers was tabbed the conference's Coach of the Year.
 
Betzold proved to be a lethal one-two combination all by herself, as the junior started 21 of the team's 22 conference games in the pitcher's circle, compiling an 11-10 record and a 3.23 ERA with 15 complete games in helping Saint Mary's to an 11-11 MIAC record. Betzold logged 125.2 of the team's 143.0 conference innings, allowing just 58 earned runs, while striking out 68 and posting three shutouts.
 
And that was just half of the Betzold threat. At the plate, Betzold hit .282, going 20-for-71 with three doubles, a home run, six runs scored and 12 RBIs. She also boasted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with nine putouts and 52 assists.
 
Add in the Cardinals' 16 nonconference games, and Betzold's numbers were even more impressive.
 
Starting all 38 games, Betzold hit .328, collecting 39 hits—including seven doubles and a home run—in 119 at-bats, while scoring 19 runs and driving in 21. She boasted a .412 slugging percentage and a .391 on-base percentage, while committing just one error in 111 chances (.991).
 
And as good as those numbers were, they nearly paled in comparison to what Betzold accomplished as the Cardinals' pitching ace.
 
Betzold became the program's all-time single-season and career leader in complete games, breaking Megan Wallisch's single-season record by tossing 22 complete games this season, while also eclipsing Jenny Schipp's career mark, closing out her third season as a Cardinal with 56 complete games. She closed out 2016 logging a team-high 182.1 innings, compiling an 18-12 record and 2.61 ERA. Betzold—who held the opposition to three hits or less eight this this season—made a team-high 30 starts, owned six shutouts, and struck out 113 batters.
 
Snyder, who made an instant impact in earning All-MIAC First-Team honors a year ago as a freshman, certainly did not suffer any type of sophomore slump in 2016—leading the team in virtually every offensive category, both in conference play and overall.
 
An every game starter in center field for the Cardinals, Snyder hit team-leading .365 in Saint Mary's 22 MIAC contests, while also leading the team in at-bats (74), runs (18), hits (27) doubles (4), triples (3), and on-base percentage (.420).
 
In 38 starts overall, Snyder was once again the team's offensive sparkplug, hitting .379, with team-bests in at-bats (124), runs (30), hits (47), triples (5), total bases (64), and walks (15).
 
Harper saved her best season in a Cardinal uniform for last, as the Cardinal senior started all 22 conference games—and all 38 contests overall. Harper hit .284 in conference play, going 19-for-67 with a doubles, triple, nine runs scored, and a .377 on-base percentage. 
 
Harper hit a team- and career-best .390 in the Cardinals' 38 games this season, going 41-for-105, with seven doubles, three triples, her first collegiate home run, 20 RBIs, 57 total bases, a .543 slugging percentage and a ..467 on-base percentage. Harper, who compiled 15 multiple-hit games, was hit by a pitch nine times this season—and a school-record 17 times in her four-year career.
 
As part of the conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC also announced the ninth annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for fastpitch softball, which included Saint Mary's Gabby Geissler (St. Louis, Mo.)