Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NEW ULM, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica softball team notched a pair of key victories over Morris and Bethany Lutheran at the annual Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Crossover to reclaim the UMAC top spot.  The Saints took care of Morris by a score of 7-4 and then came back to defeat the previous conference leader, Bethany, by a 4-2 margin Friday morning on the campus of Martin Luther.

In the game against the Cougars, the Saints struck first in the top of the second inning after a bases loaded walk scored Bonnie Kowalczyk (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls HS).  Later in the inning the Saints extended the lead to 3-0 after a Micah McGuiness (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) two-RBI single to score Nikki Logergren (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Denfeld HS (Northern Stars)) and Molly Jazdzewski (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Central HS).

Morris would answer in the bottom of the inning with a two-RBI single of their own to make it 3-2 Saints.  In the following inning CSS tacked on two more runs off of a Sydney Gordon (International Falls, Minn./Falls HS) double which scored Logergren and Jazdzewski to make the score 5-2 in favor of the Saints.

CSS would add another run as Gordon hit in her third RBI of the game scoring Logergren.  The Cougars would tally two runs off of a two-run shot to left center field to cut the lead to 6-4 in favor of the Saints.

CSS would add an insurance run in the top of seventh inning as Gordon would score on a error by the Cougar shortstop.  The Saints would hold off the Cougars in the bottom frame, securing a 7-4 victory

Morris (14-15, 10-6) finished the game with 11 hits and two errors committed.  Three pitchers shared the mound for the Cougars, garnering only one strikeout.

The Saints were led by Logergren with two hits and three runs scored.  Rendi Johnson (Bonney Lake, Wash./Bonney Lake HS) had a pair hits along with Gordon.  CSS was walked seven times in the game.  The Saints committed one error on the afternoon.

Darcy Roach (East Grand Forks, Minn./Sacred Heart HS) pitched a complete game on the mound, allowing four runs, three earned.  Roach walked one batter while striking out three.

In the second contest of the day, the Saints and Vikings were battling for the top spot in the UMAC.  BLC has six games remaining while the Saints have four games left in the regular season schedule. 

The Vikings struck first in the opening inning off of a sacrifice fly.  The Saints finally got on the board in the fourth inning when Johnson would score on a fielding error.  CSS would add two runs in the fifth, a two-RBI double by Tiff Hudack (Ashland, Wis./Ashland HS) scoring Gordon and Jenna Germscheid (Elk River, Minn./Elk River HS). 

In the sixth, the Saints plated another run to make it 4-2 after Kassandra McCabe would score on a fielder's choice.
BLC would rally in the top of the seventh after a RBI single brought the score 4-2.  The Saints closed out the inning keeping the tying run on first base and reclaimed the UMAC lead with a 4-2 victory.

BLC (18-14, 11-4 UMAC) finished the game with six hits and one error.  The Vikings were walked four times in the contest.

CSS had seven hits total, as seven different players had a hit apiece.  Hudack had two of the three RBIs in the game. 

Rendi Johnson (Bonney Lake, Wash./Bonney Lake HS) picked up the win for the Saints, pitching a complete game six hitter.  Johnson fanned seven Viking batters and only had one earned run.

St. Scholastica (18-11, 11-3 UMAC) will look to hold the conference lead as they play Crown College and Martin Luther College tomorrow to wrap up the UMAC Crossover.  The first game is slated to start at 12 p.m. local time while game two is at 4 p.m.  Tune into csssaints.com for updates from these games.