Concordia University St. Paul Athletics

Kristen (Schmidt) Soukup was among the most dominant aces in NCAA Division II throughout her career, and helped lead the Golden Bears to three straight NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances and a trip to the NCAA Elite Eight following the program’s first NCAA Regional championship in 2005. Her NCAA success included an NCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player honor as well as multiple All-NCAA Tournament Team selections.
 
She also helped the program capture three-straight NSIC Tournament Championships.
 
Soukup’s run in the 2006 NCAA Tournament was one for the ages, opening the tournament with a 5-inning (complete game) perfect game, striking out 11 of the 15 NW Missouri State batters she faced in an 8-0 win. Later in the tournament, she added a 1-hit (1B) shutout in extra innings (8) with 14 strikeouts of the 25 Nebraska-Omaha batters she faced in a tense 1-0 win. She also had a 2-hitter, allowing a run with 15 strikeouts in a 2-1 win over Augustana in the tournament.
 
She was named a 2005 NFCA All-America second team selection, was a two-time NFCA All-Region First Team performer and a three-time Daktronics (now D2CCA) All-Region First Team selection including being named the 2006 Daktronics Central Region MVP.
 
Soukup was also a four-time All-NSIC First Team standout, a three-time NSIC All-Tournament Team selection, two-time NSIC Pitcher of the Year and the 2003 NSIC Rookie of the Year.
 
In her four years as a two-way standout in the circle and the batter’s box, Soukup compiled an 86-41 record with a 1.45 ERA, striking out 1,007 batters over 880.2 innings while adding eight saves and limiting opponents to a mere .181 batting average. She struck out a career-high 350 batters in 277.0 innings as a senior in 2006, winning 27 games for the second straight year in the process. Her career low ERA was a 1.18 mark in 2005 when she went 27-8.
 
As a hitter, Soukup was also excellent and typically hit in the middle of Concordia’s lineup. During her NSIC Rookie of the Year campaign in 2003, she hit .393 and slugged .667 with 10 home runs, 11 doubles and 37 RBI in 50 games. She hit at least .313 all four years and had at least a .394 on base percentage and .422 slugging percentage every season. She finished a .342/.418/.486 (208-609) hitter in 210 games with 36 doubles and 16 home runs, driving in 105 runs and scoring 90.
 
She holds numerous career records including wins (86), strikeouts (1,007) and lowest opponent average (.181) among others while ranking in the top-10 in countless career pitching and hitting statistics. She also holds several single season and single game records including season strikeouts (350) and single game strikeouts (22).
 
Her 22 strikeout performance as a senior against SMSU (5/6) was just one shy of an NCAA DII record at the time and still ranks as the 12^th-most strikeouts in a single game, although she is one of just two players in DII history to strike out 22 batters in a 9-inning game. Her 19 strikeouts in a regulation (7-inning) game against UM Crookston (4/18/04) were just one shy of the DII record and still stand just one shy of the all-time mark today.
 
She also excelled in the classroom, earning 2005 ESPN The Magazine (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Second Team honors and earned NSIC All-Academic Team honors all three years she was eligible for the honor.
 
She was also involved at CSP as a homecoming committee member, was active with Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and was a volunteer and student athletic trainer.
 
Outside of CSP, Soukup has been honored as a Minnesota High School Hall of Fame member, Park High School Hall of Fame member and named to Minnesota’s Top 100 athletes in the last 100 years.
 
She is married to former Concordia defensive coordinator and strength & conditioning coach Oliver Soukup, they have two sons, Kooper and Chance. She is currently enrolled as a full-time BSN nursing student.