Notables:
-CSS extends win streak to nine games
-Seurer was 6-for-7 with three RBIs on the day
-Stewart was 3-for-4 with the walk-off single in game two
-First meeting between the two programs in Duluth
DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – For only the second time since 2018, the St. Scholastica softball team played games on its home venue of Kenwood Field and swept Finlandia University (Mich.) on Thursday, cruising to an 11-0 win in game one and then rallying to win in walk-off fashion 6-5 in game two.
Game 1: CSS 11, Finlandia 0 (F/5)
The first game saw the Saints take advantage of five Finlandia errors and roll to a 11-0 victory in five innings.
A two-out rally in the first inning saw
Olivia Howe (Scandia, Minn./Forest Lake HS) score on a Finlandia error and then
Aislind Dail (Sumner, Wash./Sumner HS) double in
Mara Seurer (New Prague, Minn./New Prague HS) to make it 2-0. Four more unearned runs came around for CSS in the second inning.
Grace Hadlich (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi HS) scored on a
Nicole Anders (Port Angeles, Wash./Sequim HS) sacrifice fly. Seurer drove in two runs with a single and Howe scored again on a Finlandia error to make it 6-0.
St. Scholastica put the game away with five runs in the fourth.
Mady Peterson (White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) scored on a Howe single.
Haley Rosenthal (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi HS) then doubled in two more runs. That was followed with a Hadlich RBI double and finally a
Josie Fourre (Albany, Minn./Albany HS) sacrifice fly make the final score 11-0.
Rosenthal struck out six in the pitcher's circle in five innings of work. Only five of CSS' 11 runs in game one were earned. Howe, Seurer and Dail all had a pair of hits to lead the offense.
Game 2: CSS 6, Finlandia 5
The nightcap saw the Lions (6-6) lead 5-2 after 4.5 innings, only to have the Saints score four runs in the final 2.5 innings and win via a
Heidi Stewart (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville HS (Saint Mary's)) walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh 6-5.
St. Scholastica manufactured a run in the bottom of the first with Anders scoring on a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. Finlandia scored its first two runs of the afternoon, pushing two across in the second to take a 2-1 lead.
That score remained until the bottom of the fourth when
Toni Bishop (Roseville, Minn./Roseville HS) singled in Stewart to tie the contest at 2-2. However, Finlandia regained the lead in the top of the fifth, taking advantage of a CSS error and getting a bases clearing, two-out triple to make it 5-2.
The Saints responded in the bottom of the fifth as Seurer doubled in
Mady Peterson (White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) and then Stewart doubled in Seurer to make it 5-4. Bishop then led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run to tie the contest at 5-5.
After the Lions went down in order in the top of the seventh, Seurer led off the bottom frame with a single. A Dail walk then put runners at first and second. Stewart stepped in and ripped a shot to left to bring in pinch runner
Danielle Erickson (International Falls, Minn./Littlefork-Big Falls HS) from second to give the Saints the 6-5 victory.
Howe struck out five to improve to 11-1 this season. Seurer was 4-for-4 at the plate with a pair of doubles. Stewart was 3-for-4 at the dish.
Up next:
The Saints (21-3) return to Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) action on Saturday when they travel to face Bethany Lutheran College for a doubleheader in Mankato. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
