Notables
- Season opener for Hamline
- Second consecutive 1-7 start to the season, won next two games previous year to improve to 3-7
- The Saints are now 4-6 in the all-time series against the Pipers
- Bremer and Thul extend their hit streaks to eight consecutive games
WEST ST. PAUL, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The College of St. Scholastica softball team dropped two games Monday afternoon to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's Hamline University. Although games usually take seven innings to complete, the first of the two games proved to be a thriller as it went 10 innings before a winner was decided. The second wasn't as close for CSS, falling 8-3 in the back half of the doubleheader.
Game One: Hamline 7, CSS 6 (F/10)
The first game between the Saints and the Pipers proved to be the better of the two, with both teams having an answer for their opponent throughout the contest.
The Saints, despite scoring six runs in the game, started cold in the batter's box as they went three-and-out to start the first inning and earned one walk before three strikeouts in the second. Hamline, on the other hand, started out hot as they took an early 3-0 lead after two innings of play. The 3-0 lead didn't last long, as
Ellie Haney (Maple Lake, Minn./Maple Lake HS) sparked the CSS offense with a single in the top of the third for their first hit of the day.
Alexa Bremer (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) out-did Haney in the "sparking" department, as she homered three pitches later to put the Saints within one at 3-2.
Not only did the offense find its rhythm, but
Heidi Shelton (Duluth, Minn./Proctor HS (St. Cloud Tech and CC)) also found some comfort on the mound as she put together her first three-and-out performance in the bottom half of the third inning. The Saints were held in check in the fourth, while Hamline managed to scratch across another run due to a fielding error by the Saints. Once again, the Saints had an answer in the fifth. This time it was
Maggie Schley (Mounds View, Minn./Irondale HS) providing the runs, connecting with a pitch and sending it down the right-field line for a two-RBI double to tie the game at 4-4.
Hamline answered a run-producing double with one of their own in the bottom half of the fifth, as Megan Rubbelke knocked in a teammate to put the Pipers back on top 5-4. Neither the Saints or Pipers plated a run in the sixth, meaning the Saints were down to their final three outs in the top of the seventh. With two outs, and runners on second and third,
Lily Kagan (Anchorage, Alaska/Robert Service HS) singled through the left side of the field to tie the game at 5-5. Hamline had an opportunity to walk-off in the bottom of the inning, but flew out to center with runners on the corners to force extra innings.
Extra innings meant the teams would use the international tiebreaker rule, placing a runner at second base to begin each inning. After a scoreless eighth,
Cindi Rydlund (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) knocked in the potentially game-winning run with a single to center field to put the Saints up 6-5. Hamline scored on a sacrifice bunt in the bottom half of the inning, however, keeping the game tied. After being held scoreless in the 10th, the Saints threw a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom half of the inning that allowed Hamline's Rubbelke to score from third and win the game.
Shelton threw all nine and two-thirds innings for the Saints, striking out four batters while giving up four earned runs and walking none. Bremer and Schley led the way offensively, with each knocking in two runs. Kagan also had a good game at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a RBI.
Game Two: Hamline 8, CSS 3
After the first inning of play in the second game, one would think the two teams were on pace for another extra-inning thriller. Hamline, who batted first in the second matchup, plated two runs in the first inning. The Saints answered in the bottom half with two runs of their own thanks to some heads up base running from Rydlund and Bremer as well as a
Nicole Anders (Port Angeles, Wash./Sequim HS) single.
The 2-2 game remained the same through two innings of play, but the Pipers got to CSS in the top of the third by scoring four runs and opening the game open with a 6-2 lead.
The Saints took a little chunk out of the four-run lead with a
Madison Harris (Billings, Mont./Billings West HS) sacrifice fly to left field in the fourth inning to make it 6-3. Hamline padded the lead in the fifth, scoring two more runs and taking the momentum away from the Saints, who were held scoreless the remainder of the game for a final score of 8-3 in favor of the Pipers.
Hannah Thul (Superior, Wis./Superior HS) went 2-for-2 from the batter's box in the second game, while Anders and Harris accounted for the team's RBIs. Schley threw the full seven innings for the Saints, moving to 1-3 on the year in her four-strikeout outing.
Up Next
The Saints (1-7) will look to snap their four-game losing streak in South Carolina as they take part in the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic. They begin the classic with two of their eight games in North Myrtle Beach on Sunday against Rutgers-Camden and Shaw University. The first pitch on Sunday for CSS will be thrown at 9:30 a.m. (ET).
