Posted: Jul 03, 2018
Among the highlights from the 2018 season:
- In arguably the best season in MIAA history, four teams represented the conference in the NCAA Championship, with Saint Mary's and Hope both serving as Regional hosts. Hope then advanced to the Super Regional round before falling in a best-of-three series with Case Western. During the regular season, four teams were ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 in the same week for the first time since 1995.
- Saint Mary's posted an impressive 15-1 record in MIAA play to capture their first-ever MIAA Championship. Along the way, the Belles posted five wins against nationally-ranked MIAA opponents; Saint Mary's finished their record-setting season with a 36-7 record.
- Hope rallied from the elimination bracket with three consecutive wins, including a 4-2 victory in the second MIAA Tournament title game to capture the MIAA's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship.
- Among the multitude of awards garnered for MIAA softball players in 2018 were Saint Mary's Makenzie Duncan being selected as the Google Cloud Academic All-American of the Year by CoSIDA and NFCA First-Team All-America accolades for Trine's Kaylee Fox.
- Notably, Calvin and Hope faced off against each other seven times in the 2018 season: twice during MIAA regular season play (Calvin sweep), twice at the MIAA Softball Tournament (split), and three times in the NCAA Regionals (Hope, two wins to one).