Notables-Whitewater and E. Connecticut State were both NCAA Tournament teams last season-First meetings vs. both programs-CSS has out-hit opponents in seven of 11 games this season-McGuinness has a seven-game hitting streak
CLERMONT, Fla. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica softball team defeated both the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Eastern Connecticut State on Sunday.
CSS 5, UW-Whitewater 2The Saints scored five runs in the first two innings and freshman pitcher
Maggie Schley (Mounds View, Minn./Irondale HS) held it down from there as the Saints defeated the Warhawks 5-2.
Micah McGuiness (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS),
Kara Warren (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Denfeld HS) and
Becca Zwak (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) all had RBI singles in the top of the first as the Saints took an early 3-0 lead. In the top of the second,
Nikki Logergren (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Denfeld HS (Northern Stars)) hit a two-run home run to extend the lead to 5-0.
Whitewater (2-2) got a RBI double in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1. The Warhawks threatened again in the bottom of the fourth, but had a runner thrown out at the plate and stranded another runner at third.
The Warhawks scored an unearned run in the sixth, but once again Schley was able to strand a runner at third. The Saints closed it out in the seventh, turning a key double play in the inning to make the final 5-2.
Schley recorded six strikeouts to earn the complete game victory. Both teams finished with 11 hits. Zwak was 3-for-4 to pace the CSS offense. In her first start of the year, Logergren had two hits and two RBIs.
Alexa Bremer (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) also had a pair of hits.
CSS 5, E. Connecticut State 4 (F/8)The international tiebreaker was put into effect in the nightcap for the Saints as they rallied from two runs down to win in walk-off fashion 5-4 in eight innings.
The first runs of the game came in the top of the third when the Warriors took advantage of a CSS error to take a 1-0 lead. After the Warriors added a second run in the top of the fourth, the Saints knotted up the contest in the bottom frame on a Warren sacrifice fly and a
Rendi Johnson (Bonney Lake, Wash./Bonney Lake HS) RBI single.
Both teams had runners on third late in the contest, but neither team could get a run across as the game went to extra innings.
Once games during the spring break go to extra innings, the international tiebreaker rule is put into play. Each inning starts with a runner on second base.
The Warriors were able to get two runs in in the top of the eighth to take a 4-2 lead. The Saints had back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the eighth with the latter being a RBI by Schley to cut it to 4-3.
St. Scholastica eventually loaded the bases with one out and
Hannah Borgeson (Woodville, Wis./Baldwin-Woodville HS) hit a sacrifice fly to move all the runners up, including scoring Schley to tie the game at 4-4. Another walk loaded the bases with two outs and Bremer delivered for the Saints with a base hit up the middle to bring in Warren and give the Saints a 5-4 victory.
Chrisi Mizera (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East HS) had eight strikeouts and allowed only two earned runs in the complete game victory. Warren and Schley each had two hits to lead the Saints offense. CSS out-hit the Eastern Connecticut 10-8.
Up NextThe Saints (5-6) will have tomorrow off and will be back in action on Tuesday when it faces Oberlin College (Ohio) and St. Norbert College (Wis.).
