Notables
-UNW the reigning UMAC Tournament champions and the No. 4 seed
-CSS stranded eight runners on base in the loss to UNW
-Five of the seven runs allowed on the day came with two outs
-Schley ended her career on an 11-game hitting streak.
MANKATO, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica softball team dropped a pair of two-run games Friday at the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament to have its season come to an end.
UNW 3, CSS 1
Despite the Saints recording at least one hit in six of the seven innings, the University of Northwestern (Minn.) won its third straight UMAC Tournament game over the Saints with a 3-1 victory top open action on Friday.
The Eagles (26-15) struck first with the first three batters reaching base and ultimately scoring on a RBI single. Northwestern extended the lead to 2-0 in the second inning thanks to a two-out rally that got another run across.
Toni Bishop (Roseville, Minn./Roseville HS) led off the bottom of the second with a RBI double. Two batters later, Ashley Pollema (Esko, Minn./Esko HS) drove in pinch runner Kailee Pederson to cut the margin to 2-1.
It remained 2-1 until the fourth inning when another two-out rally by the Eagles culminated in a RBI single to make it 3-1. The Saints would not advance another base runner past second base the rest of the way as the Eagles advanced to Saturday's championship game with a 3-1 victory.
Maggie Schley (Mounds View, Minn./Irondale HS) struck out three and scattered six hits in the loss. Bishop led the offense going 3-for-3. Sydney Plemel (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice HS) also had a pair of hits.
BLC 4, CSS 2
After host and No. 1 seed Bethany Lutheran College defeated the University of Wisconsin-Superior to stay alive, it faced the Saints in an elimination game to end action for the day.
The Vikings (27-11) took advantage of Saints errors in the fifth inning to break a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning and ultimately win 4-2.
The Saints took an early lead when Nicole Anders (Port Angeles, Wash./Sequim HS) scored on a Schley groundball in the top of the first. Bethany responded by tying the game with a two-out RBI single in the bottom frame to make it 1-1.
The game remained 1-1 until the bottom of the fifth. A CSS error put runners at second and third with no outs. The Vikings then took a 2-1 lead on a groundout. A second run would come in after another Saints error prolonged the inning. Bethany plated a third run with a RBI double to make it 4-1.
The Saints got one run back in the sixth inning on a Bishop RBI single. However, the Saints left two runners on base in the inning. CSS then went down in order in the seventh as Bethany advances to face Northwestern in the UMAC Tournament championship on Saturday.
Schley allowed only one earned run in the defeat for the Saints. CSS managed only four hits.
End of Season
The Saints end with an overall record of 23-16. The team will say goodbye to the lone senior Maggie Schley (Mounds View, Minn./Irondale HS). Schley ends with the third-highest career batting average (.412) in program history and the second-most doubles (57).
For future information on the St. Scholastica softball program; keep checking csssaints.com.
