Notables
-The Saints are now 73-13 in the all-time series against Northwestern, winning the last eight before falling in game two Saturday afternoon
-The last time CSS lost in St. Paul dates back to April of 2012
-O'Byrne recorded her second homerun of the season
-Mizera hit homerun No. 2 and 3 on the year, with one being a grand slam
-Bretting scored four of St. Scholastica's 14 runs in the first game
-Bishop's streak of reaching safely in 16 straight games is snapped
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The College of St. Scholastica softball team came into the Saturday afternoon matchup against the University of Northwestern Eagles at a perfect 10-0 in conference play, hoping to extend that to 12-0 by the end of the day. The Saints dominated in game one at Reynolds Field, winning 14-5 and recording 18 hits. However, the bats weren't as hot in game two as they fell to the hosting Eagles by a score of 4-2.
 
Game 1: CSS 14, UNW 5
The Saints sent Vanessa Kohl (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) to the mound for the first of two games at Reynolds Field, who would be pitching against Northwestern's Abbie Nelson in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) showdown. The first run of the day would be scored by CSS in the top of the first inning after Hannah Borgeson (Woodville, Wis./Baldwin-Woodville HS) singled to left field to knock in teammate Olivia Bretting (Ashland, Wis. /Ashland HS ).
 
The Saints opened the game up in the top of the second after Kohl took care of business in the bottom half of the first, scoring four runs to make it an early 5-0 lead. The first of four runs came after an Alexa Bremer (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) strikeout, as odd as that sounds, when Jena O'Byrne (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville HS) came racing home from third base after a passed ball. Next, Bretting doubled to left field, scoring both Cindi Rydlund (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) and Samantha Clark (Brule, Wis/Northwestern HS). Borgeson then capped off the four-run inning with another single to left to score Bretting for the second time in as many innings.
 
After the second-inning barrage, the Saints steadily increased their lead to 7-0 over the next two innings of play. The sixth run of the game for the Saints came off the bat of O'Byrne, who sent a solo shot to left field for her second homerun on the year. The Eagles weren't ready to be counted out, however, putting together five runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings to make it 8-5 after five.
 
CSS tacked on another run in the sixth inning, making the game 9-5 heading into the seventh and final inning of play. This is when the Saints gave the final blow, scoring five runs to put the game out of reach for Northwestern. Borgeson singled in Bremer for the first run of the inning, and after a Toni Bishop (Roseville, Minn./Roseville HS) single it was Chrisi Mizera (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East HS) approaching the plate with the bases loaded. Mizera then helped her pitching partner out by smashing a four-run shot to center field to earn herself a grand slam and give the Saints a 14-5 lead.
 
Kohl didn't take her foot off the pedal, only allowing a single in the bottom of the seventh as she earned her seventh win of the year after another complete-game victory. Kohl struck out two batters in the seven innings, while only allowing six hits in the process.
 
Game 2: CSS 2, UNW 4
The second game proved to be much closer, and much more defensive oriented. Mizera took to the rubber for this one, hoping to replicate Kohl's work earlier and come out of the doubleheader with two wins under her team's belt. Mizera almost matched Kohl identically by giving up four runs and allowing just six hits, but the sticks weren't as hot as the Saints split the doubleheader.
 
Northwestern struck first in their victorious effort after a single to right plated two runners to put them atop the Saints in the second inning 2-0. The game would then hit a lull for the next two innings as neither team managed to score until the fifth, which is when Cindi Rydlund (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) put the Saints on the scoreboard with a single that scored Dakota Underwood (Anchorage, Alaska/South Anchorage HS).
 
Northwestern answered, however, with two of their own in the bottom of the fifth to make the game 4-1 heading into the final two innings of play. Mizera, after helping out Kohl in game one with a grand slam, decided to help herself out this time in the top of the sixth inning with a solo homerun to center field. The homer marked her second of the day and her third on the season.
 
The homerun would be the last run scored for the Saints, however, as they fell to the Eagles 4-2 in the back half of the doubleheader.
 
Up Next
Next up for the Saints is yet another doubleheader Sunday afternoon when they travel across the border to take on the No. 15 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds. The first game is set to start at 1 p.m.