Rosemont, Illinois — The second day of the NAIA Leadoff Tournament wasn't as nice as the first for the Aquinas softball team. After racking up two rather convincing wins on Friday, the Saints came back down to Earth a little bit on Saturday (Feb. 4) with one win and two losses.

The day started with Northwestern (IA) and No. 25-ranked Saint Xavier topping Aquinas 3-2 and 9-1 in five innings, respectively. The Saints (3-2) bounced back with a 12-2 six-inning win over Bethel to conclude the busy day.

AQ will play two more games on Sunday to wrap up its seven-game, season-opening road trip to Rosemont, Ill. All games are being played inside The Dome at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex.

Game 1: Northwestern 3, (RV) Aquinas 2

In a battle of two unbeatens, Northwestern drove in the game-winning run with a two-out RBI single back up the middle in the top of the seventh inning. 

A disappointing outcome after the Saints took the lead in their first at-bat following a leadoff home run by Courtney Hardin and lead 2-0 after an RBI ground-rule double by Emma Houseman in the third inning.

The Raiders tied the score at 2-2 in the fourth inning as Kameryn Etherington doubled to left field to bring in a pair of runs. Three innings later, Jennifer Boeve knocked in the game-winning run at AQ's expense.

Aquinas was held to four hits, all coming against starting pitcher Kate Kralik in four innings of work. Ashtyn Billings pitched a perfect final three innings by recording nine straight outs — six groundouts, two flyouts and a strikeout.

AQ starter Kayla Fessenden picked up the loss after going 6 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits. She threw 123 pitches and recorded six strikeouts.

Game 2: #25 Saint Xavier 9, (RV) Aquinas 1 (5 Innings)

The Saints offense got off to another quick start in the top of the first when Carson Hendrickson reached on fielder's choice to score AQ's first and only run of the contest.

Saint Xavier broke the game open in the bottom half with an eight-run first inning. They batted around and knocked out AQ starting pitcher Leah Ash before she could get out of the nightmare inning. Behind eight hits and two Saint errors, the Cougars scored eight (four earned) runs against Ash.

Nina Bennett then stepped into the circle and went 3 1/3 innings. She allowed one run in the fourth inning off an RBI bunt. That was enough to give Saint Xavier its eight-run cushion to force the mercy rule in the fifth inning.

AQ's offense once again only produced four hits for a second straight game. Darrien Roberts, Kaelyn Stafford, Kim Sosnowski and Hardin produced the knocks.

Game 3: (RV) Aquinas 12, Bethel 2 (6 Innings)

The frustration of losing the first two games on Saturday came out in a 12-2 thrashing of Bethel in six innings to end the day. 

Aquinas had a season-high 17 hits with six different players recording a multi-hit game. Jessica Dobias and Hendrickson each had three hits. Hendrickson added three RBIs. Dobias and Taylor Charon each hit their first home run of this season.

Both blasts came in a six-run third inning that helped put the game out of reach.

Izzy Dawson collected her fourth RBI of the season with a run-scoring single in the sixth. Two more runs eventually scored on a fielding error to put AQ up double-digits at 12-2.

Grace Maguire pitched a complete game for the Saints to improve to 2-0 on the season. She allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits.

Aquinas ends the NAIA Leadoff Tournament tomorrow (Feb. 5) with a 9 a.m. game against hosts Roosevelt and an 11:15 a.m. rematch against No. 25-ranked Saint Xavier.