SPRING COLLEGE ATHLETES, PART 2 - Big spring at Macalaster for Miller; Hraby solid for UW-RF
The Macalaster College softball team had a record-breaking 2025 season and Medford’s Martha Miller had a key role in the Scots’ success.
Miller, a 2023 Medford graduate who transferred to Macalaster after one season at UW-Green Bay, went 12-7 in the pitching circle for the Scots this spring and was one of five team members to earn All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference awards. Miller made the All-MIAC first team.
Miller appeared a team-high 23 games and started 21 of them in the circle for the Scots, who set a program record for wins during a 27-15 season that included a 13-9 mark in conference play. Macalaster hosted a MIAC playoff game for the first in the 22-year history of the conference tournament and advanced to the semifinals for the first time ever, falling 91 to top-seeded Saint Mary’s on May 10 to end the season. Miller accounted for the team’s only run in that game with a solo home run.
In the MIAC quarterfinal May 8, Miller was the winning pitcher in fourth-seeded Macalaster’s 10-2 win over fifth-seeded Bethel University. In five innings, she allowed six hits and two earned runs while striking out three, walking none and hitting one. She started again at Saint Mary’s, lasting two innings and allowing five runs, four earned, on six hits.
Saint Mary’s went on to win the tournament championship later that day by beating second-seeded Saint Benedict 5-3.
Miller’s All-MIAC résumé included an earned run average of 3.09. Her 12 wins ranked fifth in the conference. In 99.2 innings, she struck out 74 batters, seventhbest in the MIAC, while walking 34. Opponent hitters had a .230 batting average, the third-lowest batting average among MIAC pitchers.
On May 5, Miller was selected as the MIAC Softball Pitcher of the Week after tossing a five-inning perfect game in a 9-0 win over St. Scholastica in game one of May 3 doubleheader. She struck out a season-high eight in the no-hit, no-walk gem.
Miller struck out six batters while throwing all seven innings in a 3-2 win at Bethel on April 26. She threw 5.1 shutout innings with four strikeouts, four walks and four hits in a 5-3 win at Carleton College April 12. Miller struck out six, walked two and gave up just two hits in a 2-0 shutout win over Hamline on April 8. She threw five shutout innings on two hits with five strikeouts in an 8-0 win over Edgewood College in Clermont, Fla. March 17, beat visiting UW-River Falls 4-1 with five strikeouts and five hits allowed in seven innings on March 28 and beat UWStout 10-2 at the All-Sports Dome in Mankato, Minn. for her first win on Feb. 15. She struck out four on four hits. One of the two runs was earned.
Miller also compiled a .242 batting average (15 for 62) with three doubles, six runs batted in and one homer during the season.
Miller added another post-season honor by being named to the NCAA Division III Academic All-District Team for softball by the College Sports Communicators. To receive the honor, student-athletes must be a sophomore, junior or senior, have a cumulative gradepoint average of 3.5 or higher and play in 90% or start 66% of the team’s games. Pitchers must have appeared in 17 games or pitched 25 innings.
A few miles east of Macalaster, 2024 Medford graduate Tanner Hraby had a strong freshman season for UW-River Falls in the program’s first baseball season since 2002. The young Falcons were competitive, especially early. The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference grind wore them down a bit late in the spring as they finished 13-27 overall and 6-22 in the WIAC.
Hraby played in 37 of the Falcons’ 40 games, starting all 37 and rotating between centerfield, leftfield and shortstop. He hit .338 (47 for 139) with four doubles and 16 runs batted in. He drew 13 walks and was hit by five pitches. He only struck out 15 times and had a .409 on-base percentage. He led River Falls with 14 stolen bases, a figure that ranked 10th in the WIAC and tied for second among the team’s regulars in batting average and tied for second with hits, one behind leader Max Krebs, a sophomore from Inver Heights Grove, Minn.
Hraby had 14 multi-hit games during the season, including two three-hit outings. In game two of a March 31 home doubleheader with UW-Stevens Point, a 12-7 win, Hraby was three for four with two runs scored, one driven in and a sacrifice. He went three for five with a double, two runs scored and an RBI in game one of an April 23 doubleheader at UW-Stout, a game the Falcons lost 12-9.
Hraby was two for five with two doubles in a 17-6 win over Springfield March 19 in Florida, scored three runs April 10 in a 12-3 home win over St. Schlostica and drove in three runs in UWRF’s last win of the season, a 9-2 victory at UW-Eau Claire on May 2 in game two of a WIAC doubleheader. He was two for two in stolen bases in each of the first two games of the season.
Hraby recorded the first hit, stolen base and putout in the first game of the team’s new chapter in history, a 14-3 win over Nebraska Wesleyan played March 13 in Auburndale, Fla. He scored the winning run in a 3-2 victory over Bethel College in game one of a doubleheader played March 23 at U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings.
Defensively he had a season-high six assists while playing shortstop in the final win at Eau Claire and had a season-high seven putouts while playing centerfield in that dome win over Bethel.
Hraby finished with a .953 fielding percentage with 80 putouts, 41 assists and six errors in 127 total chances.
UW-Whitewater won the conference with a 24-4 record and went on to win the NCAA Division III national championship. The Falcons finished seventh place, two games ahead of 4-24 UW-Eau Claire in the final WIAC standings. They were two games behind 10-18 Stevens Point.
Laurissa Klapatauskas, a 2022 Medford graduate, completed her junior softball season with Loras College of Dubuque, Iowa. The Duhawks had a solid 2025 season, going 22-15 overall and 9-7 in the American Rivers Conference, good for a fourth-place tie with Central College. As the fourth seed, Loras lost 10-1 to fifthseeded Central in the opening round of the conference tournament on May 9.
Klapastauskas appeared in seven varsity games and recorded three official at-bats, two of which came in a 4-3 loss to Ursinus College on March 11 in Kissimmee, Fla. and the other was in a 7-1 win over Edgewood College Feb. 20 in Peoria, Ill. She scored a run in the Ursinus game and recorded two putouts at first base.
Klapatauskas, a biology major, was one of 11 Loras softball players named the A-R-C’s All-Academic spring team on June 13. To qualify, student-athletes must appear on their sport’s eligibility list, be at least a sophomore academically with a minimum of one year in residence and hold a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale.
Michael Borchardt, a 2023 Rib Lake graduate, completed his second baseball season with the University of Northwestern St. Paul. The team went 1824 overall and 14-7 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, good for third place behind Bethany Lutheran (19-2) and Crown College (16-5).
The third-seeded Eagles knocked off Crown 8-7 in game one of the UMAC tournament on May 8 but then fell to topseeded Bethany Lutheran 4-3 and 20-0 in a rematch with Crown the next day.
Northwestern’s varsity reserve team went 1-5-1 this spring, including an 11-5 win at Rochester Community and Technical College on April 16. At the varsity level, Borchardt was credited with an assist while playing second base in Northwestern’s 24-10 loss at Macalaster on April 22.
In May, Borchardt was one of 17 Eagles to be named to the list of 2025 National Christian College Athletic Association Baseball Scholar Athletes. To qualify, student-athletes must be a junior or senior (by credit), have a grade-point average of 3.4 or higher, and have completed at least one full semester at their current institution.
In June, Borchardt was one of 23 baseball Eagles named to the UMAC’s Academic All-Conference team. To be eligible for that award, a student-athlete must post a 3.50 or better grade point average during the semesters their sport was in season.
Men’s golf
Connor Lingen, a 2024 Medford graduate, finished his freshman season by playing in two meets during the spring portion of UW-Stout’s men’s golf season.
Playing on the Blue Devils’ B team, Lingen finished his year with an 11th-place individual finish in the three-day WIAC triangular with UW-Eau Claire and UWStevens Point held at Nekoosa’s Lake Arrowhead golf courses May 5-6.
In his first round on The Pines course, Lingen shot a 6-over-par 78 with five bogeys on the back nine offsetting a 1over-par 37 on the front nine that included a birdie on the par-5, 517-yard hole two.
Moving to The Lakes course, Lingen had a solid second round, shooting a 1under-par 71. He was at even-par 36 on the front nine, including back-to-back birdies on the par-3 third and par-5 fourth holes. He shot a 1-under 35 on the back nine with birdies on the par-4 14th and par-5 17th holes. His third round, also on The Lakes course, resulted in a 76 (37-39).
Overall, those scores put Lingen at 9over-par for the tournament, second on the B team behind Matt Mueller (+6), a senior from St. Croix Central, and third overall for any Stout golfer. Hunter Neumann, a senior from Tomah, was sixth overall at 5-over-par. Stout’s A team finished fourth overall at +52, while the B team was fifth at +55. UW-Eau Claire’s B squad won the tournament at +8, nine shots ahead of the Blugolds’ A team.
At the Luther Classic in Decorah, Iowa April 18-19, Lingen shot rounds of 74 and 76 on the par-72 Oneta Golf and Country Club course to tie for 17th individually out of 48 golfers. His total score of 150 was eight shots behind champion Garret Sigl. UW-Stout’s main team won the meet with a score of 577 behind Sigl (142) and Dalton Anderson (143). The B team’s Cameron Lee also shot a 143 and was part of a four-way tie for second place. Stout B was sixth out of nine teams at 602 (300-302). The home teams, Luther College B (590) and Luther College (592) were second and third.
Lingen also competed in four tournaments in the fall. His best scores came during the Sept. 20-21 Midwest Region Classic, hosted by Benedictine at Brighton Dale Links in Kansasville, Wis. Lingen was part of an eight-way tie for 17th place out of 244 golfers with a two-day score of 145. He shot a 3-over-par 75 on day one and then cut that to a 2-under-par 70 on day two. Stout’s B team tied for 10th place out of 44 teams with a score of 588 or 12-over-par. The Blue Devils’ A team was eighth at 584. He got an eagle in each round. On Friday, he got a three on the par-5, 501-yard 16th hole, then on Saturday he got a three on the par-5, 476yard 10th.
Lingen’s first collegiate meet Aug. 3031 also went well. In the Culver’s Edgewood College Fall Classic at Glen Erin Golf Club in Janesville, Lingen shot rounds of 73 and 74 on the par-71 course and tied for 17th individually out of 120 golfers. The B team took second with a score of 581, eight strokes behind the team champion, Stout’s A team.
