Livonia, Mich. – The Saints returned to the Madonna Athletic Complex today (Apr. 26) to finish out their doubleheader against the University of Michigan-Dearborn Wolverines. Aquinas appeared to be in a position to take the first game, but UMD marched back for a comeback victory. The Wolverines took the lead early in the second game and never let go to complete the sweep.
AQ falls to 31-17 with a 14-8 conference record. The Saints are now in sixth place in the conference standings and will need some help to improve their seeding for the tournament next week.
The Wolverines improved to 23-14 on the season with a 13-7 WHAC record. UMD now sits ahead of Aquinas in the standings in fifth place.
Game 1: UM-Dearborn 5, Aquinas 3
Darrien Roberts nearly scored an early run for the Saints in the top of the first inning after walking to first, stealing second, and advancing to third on a wild pitch. However, UMD's pitcher, Sydni Uhlenberg, struck out three Saints in the frame to prevent Roberts from scoring.
Leah Ash started inside the circle for AQ and made quick work of the first six Wolverine batters to advance the game to the third inning.
Aquinas was the first team to get on the scoreboard in the top of the third frame. Roberts and
Izzy Dawson each singled to reach base. Following Dawson's single,
Courtney Hardin found herself on second base after an error from the left fielder. This error allowed Roberts to score and
Haley Myers (who was pinch-running for Dawson) to reach third.
Kaelyn Stafford stepped up to the dish and hit a sacrifice fly to score Myers and advanced Hardin to third base.
Carson Hendrickson followed that with an RBI single into center field to give Aquinas a 3-0 advantage.
The Wolverines responded in the bottom of the fourth inning. UMD started the frame with a pair of singles and an error to load the bases with no outs. Gabby Rolak hit an RBI single into right field to score a run and force a pitching change for Aquinas.
Grace Maguire took over, but the UMD bats stayed hot. Two more singles, a walk, and a sacrifice fly gave the home side five runs in the inning for a 5-3 lead.
Neither side managed to score a run over the next two innings, bringing Aquinas up to bat in the top of the seventh needing two runs to tie the game.
Jessica Dobias hit a leadoff double and Roberts followed that with a single into center field for her second hit of the game.
Emma Houseman put down a great sacrifice bunt to advance Dobias and Roberts into scoring position with just one out. However, a strikeout and a groundout from the next two AQ batters ended the rally and gave UM-Dearborn a 5-3 victory.
Roberts ended the game batting 2-3 at the plate with a pair of singles, a walk, and a stolen base.
Maguire pitched well in relief, allowing just one run with a pair of strikeouts.
Game 2: UM-Dearborn 5, Aquinas 2
The Wolverines changed the script in the second game as they were the first to score in the bottom of the first inning. A walk, a single, and an unfortunate pair of errors from the Saints gave the home side two quick runs to start the game.
Alexa Kownacki started the top of the second inning with a single into left field for her 20th hit of the season.
Jaden Benschoter walked on the next at-bat to put runners on first and second with no outs.
Jaden Delchambre dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position with just one out. A
Taylor Charon single to right field scored Kownacki from third base to give the Saints a run back. However, Aquinas attempted to double steal with runners on the corners and the Wolverines managed to pick up two outs on the play to get out of the jam.
The Aquinas defense fell culprit to another error in the bottom of the third inning to give UMD its run back. The Wolverines followed that with a three-hit fourth inning to score another two runs and increase their lead to four.
Neither side found a lot of offensive success until Roberts hit an RBI single in the top of the seventh inning to narrow the deficit to just three runs. However, that run would end up being a consolation run for the Saints as UMD ended the game on the next at-bat with a double play, giving the Wolverines a 5-2 win.
Kayla Fessenden went the distance in the second game and allowed just two earned runs on nine hits with a pair of strikeouts.
The Saints have a bit of a break before returning to the diamond again. Aquinas will return to action next week (May 3-5) for the WHAC Tournament in Sylvania, Ohio.
