The Aquinas softball team broke out the bats for the two wins on Sunday afternoon (Mar. 6) over Dakota Wesleyan and (RV) Jamestown in Tucson, Arizona. The Saints first took down the Tigers 13-8, before defeating the Jimmies 13-7 to go 4-1 in the last two days. Overall, AQ (who is receiving votes in the top-25 poll) moves to 7-3 on the season.
GAME 1: Aquinas 13, Dakota Wesleyan 8
DWU struck first in the second inning on an RBI double, but the Saints responded in a big way with one swing of the bat.
Courtney Hardin smacked her second home run of the season in the third inning to bring around
Leah Vaughan and
Carson Hendrickson. This came with two outs with Hendrickson doubling and Vaughan singling to get on base.
The Tigers got two runs back to tie things up in the third inning on a successful double steal and an RBI single. Both runs were unearned due to an error by the AQ defense.
Aquinas gained a three-run cushion in the fourth inning, starting with
Kayla Fessenden hitting a ground-rule double that bounced over the center field fence to plate
Kaelyn Stafford after she doubled earlier in the inning. An RBI single by Hendrickson brought around
Haley Myers (who pinch ran for Fessenden) to score, then that was followed up by another single by Vaughan to bring in
Ashley Snyder (who pinch ran for Hendrickson). All three runs were scored with two outs.
DWU got back within one in the fourth on a triple that scored two runs that were unearned on another AQ error.
Leah Ash ended up with the win to move to 3-1 after finishing four innings and striking out two. Three of the five runs allowed by Ash were unearned on seven hits and two errors.
The Saints created separation in the fifth inning by scoring five runs and pushing the lead up to 11-5. With the bases loaded and one out due to two singles and a walk. Fessenden was hit by a pitch to bring in the first run and then Hendrickson's third single of the game brought in two more. The last two runs came around on a double steal with Fessenden scoring and Hendrickson trotting home as Vaughan was caught stealing.
Nina Bennett relieved Ash in the fifth and was able to pitch one and two-thirds innings with the two runs scoring in the sixth being unearned.
AQ scored its final two runs in the seventh as
Kim Sosnowski singled in Stafford, then
Emily Cline and
Darrien Roberts completed a double steal that plated Roberts.
Christyona Arballo came out of the bullpen to get the last out in the sixth for Bennett. Arballo allowed one run in the seventh and was able to get both out by a strikeout.
Grace Maguire came in to get the final two outs of the game on a groundout and a flyout.
Hendrickson was dominant at the plate by finishing 4-4 with three RBI. Stafford and Vaughan also had multi-hit games, while Hardin also had three RBI and Fessenden finished with two RBI.
GAME 2: Aquinas 13, (RV) Jamestown 7
The Jimmies were the first one to score in the second game on an RBI single with the run being unearned off an error. Hendrickson continued her big day with a two-run double to center field to bring in Fessenden and Stafford to give AQ a 2-1 lead.
Jamestown responded in the third inning on an RBI double to tie the game up and then taking the lead on Aquinas' second error of the game. They did not keep the lead very long as AQ took back the lead in the next half inning on Stafford's second home run of the season that also scored
Breanne Adamczak.
The fifth inning was the big inning again for the Saints as six runs crossed the plate and Aquinas took a 10-3 lead. JU opened the inning with two errors that allowed AQ to eventually load the bases with no outs.
Izzy Dawson lifted a sacrifice fly to center field for the first run and
Jordan Humitz plated the next two on a single down the left field line. Aquinas was able to load the bases again and Fessenden brought in another two runs on a single down the right field line. Another double steal by the Saints scored the final run with Roberts crossing the plate.
Fessenden was a two-way player for AQ against the Jimmies as she started the game in the circle. She ended up moving to 2-1 with a win after pitching five and a third innings and allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks, while striking out three. Maguire relieved Fessenden in the sixth after two runs were scored and got the final two outs of the inning.
The final runs of the game for Aquinas came off the bat of Humitz, who launched her second home run of the season over the right center field fence for three runs in the sixth. Ash pitched the last inning of the day and allowed one run on three hits and a walk, closing out the 13-7 win.
Hardin, Humitz, and Stafford all finished with three hits in the game, as Humtiz collected five RBI and the trio of Stafford, Fessenden, and Hendrickson all had two RBI.
Aquinas will take tomorrow off before playing three more games on Tuesday (Mar. 8) against Northwestern (Iowa), Kansas Wesleyan, and Jamestown with the first game beginning at 12:00 PM.
