Piper softball was denied an opportunity to make the playoffs this season due to a conference series cancellation.

“We are upset because we should be in the playoffs,” first-year Sarah DeMars said. “Concordia is [2-16] in the MIAC and we would have probably swept them and that would have put us ahead of Bethel and put us into the playoffs.”

The Pipers finished the season 12-8 in the MIAC, which marked them fifth in the conference. Their playoff push ended last Thursday, May 1, when it was finally decided their make-up series against Concordia would not be scheduled. If the Pipers won both games in that series they would have taken the fourth seed in the MIAC standings and earned a MIAC Playoff bid.

On April 24, the Pipers were in the playoff picture and sat as the third seed. However, in the following days they were swept by Carleton and Gustavus which dropped them to fifth in the MIAC with a 10-8 conference record.

The Pipers had four conference games remaining on their schedule in which they would play Bethel and Concordia. Weather conditions had postponed both games, and due to MIAC regulations all games would have to be made up by Thursday, May 1.

The Pipers were then scheduled to play a doubleheader against Bethel on Wednesday, April 30. Their series against Concordia was still up in the air, but if the Pipers didn’t beat Bethel, they would have been eliminated from playoff contention.

Sophomore Jamie Rubbelke said the team came into the series against Bethel with a must-win mentality.

“We just had the mentality, that alright, this is it. We got to get two [wins] from them if we want to keep going,” she said.

The Pipers managed to defeat Bethel 8-0 in the first game and 12-7 in the second game. The Pipers then rose to a 12-8 MIAC record and had an opportunity to tie Bethel’s 14-8 conference record during the series against Concordia. Since the Pipers defeated Bethel twice in the head-to-head, they would have won the tiebreaker.

Unfortunately for the Pipers, their series against Concordia remained canceled because the series fell on Concordia’s finals week. Current MIAC regulations give teams the option to decline a game to be rescheduled during finals week.

Executive Director of the MIAC, Dan McKane, explained the conference’s policy on game cancellations via email.

“The conference policy, set by presidents, FAR’s [Faculty Athletic Representatives], AD’s [Athletic Directors] and coaches, does not require softball teams to complete their conference schedule. It acknowledges that total games played may not be the same,” McKane wrote.

Since Bethel finished with a 14-8 conference record they held a higher winning percentage in the MIAC compared to the Pipers’ 12-8 mark. Bethel was then able to advance to the playoffs and went on to the MIAC Championship game where they were defeated by St. Thomas. The Tommies won their eleventh consecutive MIAC Championship title.

DeMars said she thinks the team would have competed well against the Tommies.

“Every team in our conference is beatable,” DeMars said. “The last two times we played them we didn’t lose by a ton, we didn’t get blown out of the water. We were right with them; it would have been a good game.”

Rubbelke said she was bummed with the final decision that kept the Pipers out of the playoffs.

“It’s just crazy because that could have completely changed the outcome of the [MIAC] playoffs,” Rubbelke said.

McKane said the MIAC will discuss the possibility of making changes to the rescheduling policies to prevent future situations to what the Pipers experienced this year.

“There has been some challenges with Minnesota spring weather the last two years. We will be reviewing our rescheduling policy at our upcoming softball coaches meeting and athletic directors meetings to hopefully help prevent similar situations from happening,” he said.

Senior Lauren Turitto said she braced herself to hear either decision last Thursday morning.

“I’m glad that it’s going to spark some change in the MIAC with their bylaws and things like that. I definitely wish it wasn’t my senior year, so I could experience it next year,” she said.

Turitto didn’t go into the series against Bethel thinking it would be her last, but she’s glad the team played their best game.

“I was just glad that we definitely played our last two games strong so we got to go out on a good note,” Turitto said.

Turitto also hit her final home run in her collegiate career in game one against Bethel; it was a three run shot in the seventh inning. Turitto finished the series with four hits, three runs and four RBI’s.

“People came up with some really clutch hits… we were being aggressive on the bases, played great defense and great pitching. It was just an all-around great team effort,” Rubbelke said.

DeMars said what she will take away from the season is how the team overcame a four game losing streak to beat a playoff contending team in a must-win situation.

“We had the willpower and wanted to win. We just went out there and kicked their butts,” DeMars said. “It shows that we’re fighters, we know we can do well every game, we just don’t show it sometimes. But [Wednesday] night we really showed our strengths.”

Rubbelke said what it came down to in the end were two series’s where they split games against St. Kate’s and St. Olaf.

“You got to beat the teams you’re supposed to beat and hopefully knock some off. I think that would have helped us in the ending,” Rubbelke said. “It’s just who shows up to play that day. You got to really want it every game.”

The Pipers’ play this season has Rubbelke fired up for next season.

“Next year will be an exciting season, getting a lot of girls back,” she said. “I think we have a really good shot to make something happen in conference.”