The Aquinas softball team traveled down the road to Cornerstone to take on the Golden Eagles in a non-conference doubleheader on Friday afternoon (Apr. 30). The Saints earned the huge 7-0 victory in game one before dropping an 11-9 final in game two.
The split moves Aquinas to 24-8 overall while Cornerstone moves to 16-14 overall. Earning the win in game one for the Saints was Leah Vaughan who pitched three innings for AQ, allowing no hits and no runs. Vaughan also posted an impressive six strikeouts.
The Saints earned a run in each of the first, third, and fourth innings. Tallying the first score for AQ was Brooke Wila. Scoring in the third was Kallie Sears who was batted in on a single from Izzy Dawson. Courtney Hardin then tallied a run in the fourth on a steal home.
AQ's offense came to the fifth inning scoring three. A Jordan Humitz double scored both I. Dawson and Kaelyn Stafford to earn Aquinas the 5-0 lead. An infield single from Natalie VanDerHaegen scored Halee Holman before a tag out play at second ended the inning.
Aquinas notched their last run on a Kenzie Jordan single down the left field line to score Wila. AQ retired the seventh allowing no runs to claim the big 7-0 victory. Sears led the Saints in game one, hitting 3-3 with a run. VanDerHaegen batted 2-3 while I. Dawson also batted 2-3 and added a run and an RBI. Wila finished with two runs and two stolen bases. Humitz added two RBIs.
In game two, Cornerstone earned the jump tallying three runs in the top of the first. The Golden Eagles also notched four runs on five hits in the third. Aquinas came to the bottom of the inning, as the home team in game two, matching CU's four runs. A single up the middle from Haley Myers scored pinch runner Wila. A stand-up double from Haley Aldred cleared the bases from AQ to bring it within three runs (7-4).
Each team posted two runs in the fourth to keep the margin at three. The Golden Eagles posted a run in the fifth and sixth while AQ came to the bottom of the sixth scoring three. Brianna Pastor singled to score Taylor Borkowski (who reached on a single). Aquinas notched the other two runs on a fielder's choice and a Jordan SAC fly. A scoreless seventh inning for both teams closed the close game as AQ dropped by a 9-11 score.
Grace Maguire was given the loss on the mound for AQ, but earned two strikeouts. Pastor led the Saints offensively hitting 2-3 with a run and an RBI. Myers hit 2-4 with a run and an RBI. Aldred notched three RBIs while Taylor Charon and Holman both tallied two runs.
Aquinas is back in action tomorrow for a big WHAC doubleheader as the Saints host Concordia. AQ will be honoring six seniors from this year's graduating class and three from last year's class tomorrow and will be closing out regular season play. First pitch is set for 1:00 PM at Cornerstone.
