The Aquinas softball team captured wins in two of three games on Wednesday (Mar. 12) at the Tucson Invitational Games in Arizona, pushing its win streak to four straight games before falling in its nightcap. AQ defeated (RV) Jamestown by a 10-8 score and held off Doane in a 7-6 battle. The Saints played Jamestown again to end the day, with the Jimmies tallying a 7-5 victory to snap AQ's win streak.
After the 2-1 day of competition, Aquinas improves to 11-10 overall and 5-5 on the trip. On Thursday (Mar. 12), the Saints are scheduled to face Dakota Wesleyan (12:00 p.m. ET), Texas Wesleyan (4:30 p.m. ET), and Dakota State (6:30 p.m. ET).
10-8 win over (RV) Jamestown:
A wild battle saw the Jimmies score the game's first eight runs and Aquinas rally by scoring the final 10 runs to prevail 10-8. Each team notched 13 hits in the offensive slugfest.
After trailing 8-0, the Saints used a two-run double from Izzy Dawson to get on the board and start the 10-run comeback. The three-run third inning and four-run fourth made it an 8-7 game, as Taylor Charon, Jordan Buckingham, and Leigha Morse all collected RBI singles to bring AQ within a run.
In the sixth inning, Dawson and Morse reached base and came home on a three-run blast off the bat of Jordan Humitz to give the Saints a 10-8 lead. Jamestown opened the seventh inning with a single, but Leah Ash entered the circle for AQ and retired the final three batters to preserve the win.
Dawson went 4-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Charon and Taylor Borkowski each went 2-for-3 and scored a run, while Buckingham scored twice. Humitz was officially just 1-for-3, but recorded five RBI with her homer, a sacrifice fly, and a run-scoring groundout.
AQ used four pitchers in the game. Nina Bennett earned the victory by tossing three scoreless innings of four-hit ball. Ash recorded the save by tallying the final three outs of the game.
7-6 win over Doane:
The Saints went up early against the Tigers, opening a 5-0 lead by the third inning. Dawson's first-inning RBI single made it 1-0 and Humitz smashed another homer to give AQ the 3-0 edge. In the third inning, Dawson tallied a two-run double to push Aquinas out to the 5-0 advantage.
An RBI double from Brooke Wila made it 6-1 in the fourth inning and the Saints moved in front 7-2 in the sixth inning. Doane rallied for four runs in the seventh, but used three straight groundouts to escape the jam and seal the victory.
Dawson posted a 3-for-3 effort with a double and three RBI, while Wila and Kallie Sears each went 2-for-4, with Sears scoring twice. Humitz went 1-for-2, walked twice, and recorded three RBI. Doane outhit Aquinas by an 11-9 margin.
Marisa Loya tossed 5.1 innings and allowed one earned run on eight hits, while striking out four. She earned the victory. Ash again recorded a save by getting the final three outs.
7-5 loss to (RV) Jamestown:
The Jimmies split the two games against AQ, putting up four first-inning runs after an early sacrifice fly from Sears. Aquinas made things interesting with a sixth inning solo homer from Dawson and an RBI triple from Natalie VanDerHaegen to bring Aquinas within a run at 4-3.
Jamestown responded with a three-run homer in the sixth inning to regain a 7-3 edge, but the Saints answered back with a two-run home run in the seventh inning from Borkowski to make it 7-5. The Jimmies closed out the win a few batters later to earn the win.
Each team recorded 11 hits, with Dawson, VanDerHaegen, and Kayla Fessenden notching two hits apiece. Wila scored twice and Borkowski drove in a pair of runs. Six of AQ's 11 hits went for extra bases with two doubles (Dawson, Fessenden), two triples (Wila, VanDerHaegen), and two homers (Borkowski, Dawson).
