Last Thursday Julie Graff ’20 of the St. Olaf softball team broke the MIAC (Minnesota Intercolliegate Athletic Conference) all time strikeout record during a game against St. Kate’s. Though the team suffered a loss, Graff still recorded the 697th strike of her career. She recently also set the St. Olaf school record with 47 career wins.
“It’s wild. I’m grateful to even be mentioned among some of the names on that list, and even more thankful for the love and support from my teammates, coaches, and the whole St. Olaf community,” Graff said about her new MIAC record.
Graff said she is not ready to stop there. either. As the season progresses and she continues to pitch, she hopes to up that record.
After her sophomore season, Graff injured her shoulder and underwent surgery. This year, she was ready to make a full recovery and return for her junior season.
“I was a bit nervous, It’s been a long road and a lot of hours in the Athletic Training Facility,” Graff said. “Our trainer Tyler has been so great for the past eight plus months in helping me get physically and mentally ready for the season.”
Graff is excited for the rest of the season and to hopefully have a long postseason run with a MIAC title.
“This season, we want to compete with the best, including making a strong postseason run. Last year, we proved that we were good enough to make it to the postseason, and this year, we are definitely after a MIAC title and more,” Graff said.
The softball team currently sits at 7-5 in the conference. On April 6, they dropped two games to St. Thomas, currently the nation’s sixth best team. Despite these losses, St. Olaf bounced back with a sweep against Augsburg on April 7.
Their season continues this week with two games on Saturday against Bethel and Concordia at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
