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DULUTH, Minn. – After four hours of removing snow off of Kenwood Field, the 2010 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Softball Tournament got under way and the St. Scholastica softball team survived a scare from the University of Minnesota-Morris in game one, winning 4-2 in extra innings, and then defeated Northwestern College 5-2 to advance to the championship game.

Many St. Scholastica athletes and staff members began removing the four inches of snow that fell Friday at 8 a.m. this morning. By noon, the snow was completely off and the tournament got under way at 1 p.m.

In CSS's first game of the day against Minnesota-Morris, the Cougars plated a run a in the top of the first with a two-out RBI-single. The Saints tied the game up in the bottom half when #Merryssa Tiedeman# (So.-Zumbrota, Minn./Zumbrota-Mazeppa) scored on a Morris error.

Morris regained the lead in the top of the third with a RBI-single to make it 2-1. It remained that way until the bottom of the seventh. #Brittni Johnson# (Jr.-Thief River Falls, Minn./Lincoln) led off by reaching on a Morris error. With one out and Johnson on second, Tiedeman would reach on a throwing error and Johnson scored from second base to tie the game 2-2. The Cougars got out of the inning and the game went into extra innings, just the second time this season the Saints have played more than seven innings.

After Morris went down quietly in the top of the eighth, #Theresa Tauer# (So.-Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) led off the bottom half with a double. The next batter, #Bonnie Kowalczyk# (Fr.-Menomonee Falls, Wis.) would hit a walk-off, opposite field home run to left to give the Saints the 4-2 victory.

Johnson was dominant in relief for the Saints, allowing just two hits in six innings and striking out four. CSS managed just four hits in the contest with Tauer and Kowalczyk having two each. Tiedeman had her school record 23-game hitting streak come to an end in the game.

St. Scholastica then moved on to face Northwestern College in the winner's bracket game. Northwestern defeated Northland College in the first game of the day 3-1.

The Saints would almost match their hit total from their first game in the bottom of the first inning with three hits. Tauer had a RBI-single and later scored on a Northwestern error to make it 2-0 after one inning.

#Allison Spiering# (Fr.-Mounds View, Minn./Irondale) scored on a wild pitch in the second to extend the lead to 3-0. The Eagles plated two runs on a double in the fourth to make it 3-2.

The Saints got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fourth on a Tiedeman RBI-triple. The triple was the 22nd this season by the Saints, which ties a program record.

Johnson ripped a RBI-single in the fifth to make the score 5-2. The Eagles put two runners on in the sixth and had the leadoff batter reach in the seventh, but came away with nothing as the Saints prevailed 5-2.

#Jen Falk# (Jr.-Altona, Man.) picked up her 10th victory of the season with eight strikeouts in the complete game. Kowalczyk was 3-for-4 to lead the Saints offense.

The Saints move on to the championship game tomorrow at noon. They will play the winner of Northwestern and Northland, which plays at 10 a.m. All of the action will take place at Kenwood Field.