Notables
-CSS falls to Northwestern for the first time in the UMAC Tournament
-UNW has beaten the top two seeds in its first two games by a combined score of 27-4
-CSS will have to beat Northwestern twice on Saturday
DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica softball team opened the second day of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Softball Tournament at Kenwood Field on Friday by falling in a winners' bracket semifinal against the University of Northwestern (Minn.), but responded to defeat Bethany Lutheran College to advance to Saturday's championship game.
Northwestern 10, CSS 1
After defeating the No. 2 seed University of Wisconsin-Superior 17-3 on Thursday, the No. 3 seeded Eagles kept the offense going against the Saints on Friday. Northwestern had 14 hits and recorded the most runs against the Saints by a UMAC team since 2013.
A key moment in the game came in the fourth inning. With the Eagles leading 1-0, Faith Forcier hit a three-run home run over the left field fence to extend the lead to 4-0. Northwestern added another run in the inning to make it 5-0. In the bottom frame, the Saints would have a runner thrown out at the plate for the second time in the contest.
CSS then loaded the bases in the fifth, but only got one run on a
Cindi Rydlund (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) infield single. Northwestern got that run back in the sixth and then put the game away with four more runs in the seventh to make the final 10-1.
Alexa Bremer (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) recorded two of the team's five hits in the contest. Mindy Forcier and Faith Forcier combined to go 5-for-8 with five RBIs.
CSS 2, BLC 0
The Saints now needed to play again on Friday in an elimination game where they would take on Bethany Lutheran, who eliminated Crown College in the second game of the day.
CSS got off to a good start against the Vikings. Bremer led off with a walk and moved her way to third with two outs.
Maggie Schley (Mounds View, Minn./Irondale HS) then delivered a RBI single up the middle to make it 1-0.
It remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth when Schley led off the inning with a double. She was then pinch run for by
Skylar Gunderson (Proctor, Minn./Proctor HS), who took off to steal third and the throw got away from the catcher to allow Gunderson to score and make it 2-0.
Bethany loaded the bases in the fifth, but
Vanessa Kohl (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) got a strikeout and fly out to end the threat. The Vikings would not threaten again until the top of the seventh when a one-out double put two runners in scoring position. Kohl again got out of the jam and did it all herself this time, by getting the next two batters to strikeout and end the game 2-0.
Kohl struck out five and gave up only three hits in the complete-game shutout. Schley had two of the team's five hits.
Up Next
The Saints (22-12) will have a rematch with Northwestern in tomorrow's championship game at noon. The Saints will need to beat the Eagles twice to capture the championship, while Northwestern will only have to win once. The, if necessary, championship game will take place immediately following the first game.
