Davenport, Iowa — The opening day of the St. Ambrose Dome Tournament saw the Aquinas softball team pick up a pair of wins to improve to 5-4 overall on the young season.

The Saints started the day on Saturday (Feb. 25) by taking down the tournament hosts St. Ambrose, 4-1, and then knocked off (RV) Mount Mercy shortly after, only allowing one run again in a 5-1 neutral site victory. 

The two wins helped Aquinas emphatically get back into the win column, snapping a two-game losing streak.

Game 1: (RV) Aquinas 4, Saint Ambrose 1

Junior catcher Courtney Hardin opened the weekend tournament with a bang by hitting a leadoff home run. Her second home run of the season had the Saints off and running, literally. Aquinas manufactured a second run in the first inning with a double steal of second and home base. Carson Hendrickson swiped second and Darrien Roberts stole home to give the Saints an early 2-0 lead.

The Bees (6-4) got one run back in the bottom half of the first with an RBI single off AQ starting pitcher Kayla Fessenden. St. Ambrose was shut down from that point on. Fessenden threw a complete game, only allowing three hits and that lone run, to pick up her first win of the season.

AQ added two insurance runs in the fourth when junior infielder Haley Myers connected on her first collegiate home run in her 80th career game played for the Saints. The unlikely power source capped the scoring with both sides unable to push across any more runs in the last three innings.

Hardin had two of the Saints' six hits. Myers, Roberts, Leah Vaughan and Emma Houseman each collected one.

Aquinas also had six walks, six strikeouts and six runners left on base.

Game 2: (RV) Aquinas 5, (RV) Mount Mercy 1

After both teams squandered opportunities to score in the first three innings, the deadlock was finally broken in the fourth inning. AQ freshman Jaden Delchambre crossed home plate first on an Mount Mercy error in the infield. 

Hardin then strolled into the batter's box and kept her great day going with a three-run home run that allowed McKenna Hinkle and Houseman to jog around the bases. Hardin's second home run of the day pushed AQ's lead out to 4-0.

That cushion was more than enough for senior right-handed hurler Leah Ash. She gave up one unearned run in the fifth, but that was her only blemish. Ash faced 28 batters in the complete-game effort, striking out a season-high eight of them and only giving up five hits. Ash improved to 2-2 overall on the season and dropped her season ERA to 2.62 runs allowed per game.

A wild pitch allowed Aquinas to score one last run in the bottom of the fifth inning to push the final score out to 5-1 and avoid repeating the score of Saturday's first game.

Standouts at the plate included Vaughan going 3-for-3 with two doubles and a walk, plus Alexa Kownacki and Houseman each picked up a pair of hits. The Saints finished with nine hits and left nine runners on base.

Aquinas wraps up the St. Ambrose Dome Tournament tomorrow (Feb. 26) with a rematch against (RV) Mount Mercy at noon, followed by a 2 p.m. contest against Mount Marty.