Notables
-CSS finishes 5-2 during spring trip
-First-ever meetings against both teams Thursday
-Schley went 2-0 with two shutouts and led the team with eight RBIs during the trip
-Rydlund led the team with nine hits during the trip
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica softball team dropped the first game Thursday to Emory & Henry College (Va.), but ended on a high note with a victory over Gettysburg College (Pa.) to conclude play at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic.
Emory & Henry 6, CSS 1
The Saints struck first against the Wasps (14-2), but could not manage much more offense the rest of the game as Emory & Henry also took advantage of a few CSS errors to pull away and win 6-1.
Alexa Bremer (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) and
Hannah Thul (Superior, Wis./Superior HS) each drew walks to begin the game.
Cindi Rydlund (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) followed with a RBI single to bring in Bremer and make it 1-0 before an out had been recorded. However, the Saints proceeded to strike out six consecutive times.
CSS pitcher
Heidi Shelton (Duluth, Minn./Proctor HS (St. Cloud Tech and CC)) navigated her way out of a bases loaded jam in the first, but surrendered a run in the second to make it 1-1.
Rydlund singled again in the third inning, but was left stranded at second base. That would be the final hit of the game for the Saints. CSS then committed a pair of errors in the bottom frame, which led to two Wasp runs to make it 3-1 Emory & Henry. The Saints committed two more errors in the sixth inning, which led to three unearned runs, which made the final 6-1.
Rydlund had the only two hits of the game for the Saints. Cameron Derr recorded 14 strikeouts for Emory & Henry. That is the most times the Saints have struck out in a game since a 2011 NCAA Tournament loss to Luther College (Iowa). Shelton allowed only two earned runs in the loss.
CSS 2, Gettysburg 0
The Saints were able to get enough offense in game two of the day, along with the combination of
Maggie Schley (Mounds View, Minn./Irondale HS)'s pitching and great defense as St. Scholastica defeated Gettysburg 2-0.
CSS pushed a run across in the first inning for the fifth time in the last six games, but not after getting out of trouble in the top half of the inning. The Bullets (2-7) loaded the bases with one out, but Schley induced a groundball right back to her and she proceeded to get the force at home and
Autumn Senger (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS)'s throw to first was in time for the double play to end the inning.
Bremer led off the bottom frame with an infield single. Following a sacrifice, Rydlund beat out an infield single and then intentionally got in a rundown to score Bremer and make it 1-0. That score remained until the bottom of the fifth when Schley hit a groundball to short, which hoped over infielder's glove and allowed Thul to score from second and extend the lead to 2-0.
A couple of nice defensive plays highlighted the sixth inning as
Alexis Ford (Billings, Mont./Billings West HS) made a running catch deep in left field to begin the inning and Rydlund made a diving catch in center field to end the inning.
The Bullets got the leadoff batter aboard in the seventh, but Schley got a groundout to herself and back-to-back fly outs to end the game 2-0.
Schley earns her second consecutive shutout and third win of the season, allowing six hits and one walk. She also led the team offensively going 2-for-3 with a RBI.
Up Next
The Saints (6-9) are off until Thursday, March 29 when they open Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play at Martin Luther College.
