Grand Rapids, Mich. – The AQ softball squad entered today's (Mar. 26) doubleheader against Rochester on a seven-game winning streak. Good batting and phenomenal pitching added another two games to the win streak after sweeping the Warriors by scores of 9-0 and 7-0.
Izzy Dawson hit her second home run of the season today to give her 23 home runs over the course of her career. She is now tied with Ranae Tubergen for the fourth-most career home runs in program history.
Not only did she move up on the all-time home run list, but Dawson passed Ashley Aspinall to become the sole leader on the all-time doubles list. She now has the most doubles in program history with 58.
AQ opens up the conference season with a 2-0 conference record and improves to 19-7 on the season. Rochester falls to 2-6 on the year with an 0-2 WHAC record.
Game 1: Aquinas 9, Rochester 0 (5 Innings)
Leah Ash started the first game in the circle for AQ and immediately continued her hot streak with two strikeouts to start the game. The Warriors picked up a single, but a groundout on the following at-bat ended the top of the first inning scoreless.
The Saints jumped on the scoreboard early as
Courtney Hardin started the game with a single through the left side of the infield. Dawson hit her home two at-bats later with a two-run bomb to left field.
Kaelyn Stafford picked up a single, but the first inning ended with AQ ahead 2-0.
Ash continued to deal, picking up three strikeouts in the second inning. In the bottom half of the frame, RU made a pitching change and
Carson Hendrickson welcomed her into the game with a single toward the shortstop. She stole second and then a sacrifice bunt from
Emma Houseman and a sacrifice fly from Hardin gave AQ its third run of the match.
Ash continued to be a strikeout machine with two more in the third inning as she retired the side. Dawson opened the bottom of the third inning with her record-setting 58th career double. A pair of errors from Rochester helped give the Saints three runs during the inning to take a 6-0 advantage.
More good pitching from Ash kept the Warriors scoreless through four innings.
Alexa Kownacki pinch hit for Hardin to start the bottom half of the inning and walked. Hardin then went back in to pinch run for Kownacki and immediately stole second base.
Jaden Benschoter singled through the left side of the infield to bring Hardin the rest of the way around the bases. Several batters later,
Jaden Delchambre singled to right field to bring
Haley Myers and Benschoter across home for a 9-0 lead.
Nina Bennett was called in to finish out pitching duties for the game in the top of the fifth inning. The Warriors hit a grounder to
Kim Sosnowski at second base in all three at-bats and Sosnowski effectively retired the side with three consecutive outs. AQ won the game 9-0 in the fifth inning by mercy rule.
Ash finished the game with nine strikeouts, zero walks, and just three hits allowed to improve to 8-2 on the season. Dawson and Delchambre both ended the game with a team-high two RBI. Dawson also had the most hits and total bases for the Saints during the game with two hits and six total bases.
Game 2: Aquinas 7, Rochester 0
AQ's impressive pitching continued into the second game with
Kayla Fessenden pitching. She retired the side to bring the Saints up to bat. For the first time during the doubleheader, Rochester held AQ scoreless in an inning despite Hardin standing on third and Dawson standing on second.
RU was, once again, held scoreless in the top of the second inning. Myers got in on the home run action as she smashed the ball off of the scoreboard in left-center. Her homer came with Hendrickson standing on first to give AQ a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third inning, AQ doubled its lead after a Hendrickson single scored Stafford and Dawson for two RBI.
Hardin continued to be a menace on the basepaths in the bottom of the fourth inning. She reached base due to catcher's interference and stole second to give her four stolen bases on the day. Sydney Vanderhaegen hit a base knock up the middle to bring Hardin home for a 5-0 lead.
The Warriors just couldn't get anything going with Fessenden pitching in the circle as the visitors remained scoreless after five innings. Kownacki and
Taylor Charon both picked up an RBI in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend the AQ lead to seven.
Grace Maguire picked up pitching duties in the top of the sixth and also made quick work of the Warriors through the final two innings. She forced three groundouts, a ground ball double play, and a strikeout to give AQ a 7-0 win.
Fessenden earned her fifth win of the season after allowing just three hits and one walk over five innings pitched. She also ended the game with six punchouts.
Hendrickson and VanDerHaegen ended the second game with a team-high of two hits. Hendrickson and Myers both had two RBI during the game. AQ ended the matchup with seven stolen bases as a team.
Up next on the schedule for the Saints is a doubleheader against Cornerstone on Wednesday (Mar. 29). The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 3:00 PM at the CU Softball Field.
