The Aquinas softball team played a tripleheader at the Tucson Invitational Games on Monday (Mar. 9) and all three games were low-scoring contests. AQ dropped a pair of one-run games and fell in the nightcap as well to Embry-Riddle.

After splitting its opening two games on Saturday (Mar. 7), the Saints' pair of Sunday (Mar. 8) games were cancelled due to inclement weather. The team played its scheduled three games on Monday, falling to Valley City State (5-4), Cardinal Stritch (5-4, 8 innings), and Embry-Riddle (5-2). Aquinas is 7-9 on the season after Monday's action.

Valley City State: 5-4 loss
AQ allowed runs in just one inning, as the Vikings (6-11) scored all five runs in the fourth inning. The Saints led 3-0 going into the fourth, as Leigha Morse delivered a two-run homer in the first inning and Izzy Dawson drove in Brooke Wila in the third inning with an RBI single.

Valley City State posted its five runs in the fourth inning and carried that 5-3 lead into the seventh. After AQ's first two hitters were retired, Kallie Sears doubled to center and was brought home on another Dawson RBI single, making it a 5-4 game. With Dawson on second base, the Vikings sealed the win with a game-ending strikeout.

Dawson finished 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Morse drove in two runs with her roundtripper. Wila was 2-for-4 and Haley Aldred walked and singled. Mia Loya was dealt with the loss, allowing five earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched. Leah Ash threw the final 2.1 scoreless innings and gave up just three hits.

Cardinal Stritch: 5-4, 8-inning loss
Aquinas took an early 1-0 lead on a Taylor Borkowski solo homer to right field. Cardinal Stritch responded with three runs in the bottom of the first, but AQ answered with runs in each of its next two at-bats. Wila drove in Jordan Buckingham with a second-inning single to make it 3-2. In the third, Natalie VanDerHaegen stole home and tied the score at 3-3.

The Wolves (2-7) regained the lead in the home half of the third with an RBI single for a 4-3 lead that would last until the sixth inning. Buckingham was brought in to tie the game at 4-4 on a Hannah Hasley fielder's choice. AQ put runners on the corners in the top of the seventh with two outs, but was unable to push the go-ahead run across the plate.

Neither team scored in its next at-bat, but Cardinal Stritch tallied the walk-off victory in the bottom of the eighth after the international tiebreaker was put into effect.

AQ outhit the Wolves, 9-7, led by Dawson's 3-for-4 outing. Buckingham went 2-for-3 with a double, triple, and two runs scored, while VanDerHaegen was 2-for-4 and scored a run. Borkowski homered and walked in the loss.

Kayla Fessenden logged the opening 4.0 innings and gave up two earned runs on six hits. Loya threw the final 3.1 innings, allowing just one hit and one unearned run. Both pitchers struck out two batters.

Embry-Riddle: 5-2 loss
The Eagles (10-7) notched a pair of first-inning home runs to open an early 3-0 lead. Runs in the second and fourth innings gave the visitors a 5-0 edge. Aquinas scored single runs in the fourth inning (Dawson RBI single to score Brooke Wila) and seventh inning (Sears RBI double to score Dana Wila), but it would not be enough for the Saints.

Embry-Riddle outhit Aquinas by a 9-4 margin. Four Saints recorded one hit apiece – Brooke Wila, Dawson, Sears, and Taylor Charon.

Leah Vaughan allowed five runs on seven hits in four innings, taking the loss in the nightcap. Nina Bennett threw the final three innings and gave up no runs on two hits, with one strikeout.

Aquinas is back in action on Tuesday (Mar. 10) against Roosevelt (2:00 p.m. ET) and Kansas Wesleyan (4:30 p.m. ET).