Davenport, Iowa – AQ's hot start to the season continued today (Feb. 25) with two more wins. AQ got the best of Judson again for the first game and then hung 14 runs on Mount Mercy to improve to 4-0. This is the first time since head coach,
Brad Koch's first season as the head coach in 2017 that Aquinas has started its season 4-0. AQ went on to win 14 straight wins to start the season that year.
Game 1: Aquinas 10, Judson 6
The Saints found themselves behind by more than one run for the first time this year after Judson scored three runs over the first three innings. That lead didn't last long as the Saints got the bats going in the bottom of the third frame.
Jaden Delchambre walked and quickly scored following a couple of wild pitches and a
Kim Sosnowski single. Sosnowski also crossed home plate after stealing second and rounding the bases on one of those wild pitches. MaKayla Mott and
Alexa Kownacki kept the momentum rolling with another couple of hits.
Elizabeth Haunhorst recorded her first hit for the Saints to score Mott and then a successful sacrifice bunt from
Jessica Dobias scored Kownacki to cap off a four-run inning.
Judson went on to tie the game in the fourth inning off of a sacrifice fly to center field, but AQ kept the bats going as Haunhorst bounced the ball over the fence for a ground-rule double to record another RBI. An untimely Eagles error on the ensuing at-bat gave AQ a two-run edge.
The Saints broke open the scoring in the bottom of the fifth. Sosnowski recorded her third hit of the contest to get a two-out rally started.
Kenzie Jordan picked up her first hit of the season to put a second runner on base. Kownacki then hit a ground ball to the Judson shortstop who committed a throwing error to score an Aquinas run and keep the inning going.
Mallory Buikema punished the Eagles for the error as her first career hit for the Saints was a rocket into left-center on the subsequent at-bat to score two more runs, giving the Saints a 9-4 lead.
Jordan added on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth as her double scored
Sydney VanDerHaegen. Judson scored a pair of consolation runs in the seventh, but
Sophia Pavese completed her 4.1-inning relief outing and got her second win of the season.
After taking over in the third inning, Pavese allowed just one hit while striking out three batters.
Sydney Bosgraaf started the contest and recorded four strikeouts in her 2.2 innings in the circle.
Game 2: Aquinas 14, Mount Mercy 6
McKenna Hinkle started the next game with a single to left and then she stole her third base of the season to move into scoring position. Hinkle would have scored anyway as
Courtney Hardin ripped a triple into the right-field gap to put the first run on the board. Two batters later,
Haley Myers singled up the middle of the infield to bring Hardin home.
Mount Mercy proved this was going to be an offensive battle as the Mustangs responded with four runs off of five hits and a walk to take a 4-2 lead after the first inning.
The Saints tied the game up over the next two innings as
Darrien Roberts walked in a run and
Kaelyn Stafford hit
Katie Carlson home. However, MMU continued the scoring with two runs of its own in the bottom of the third following another series of hits.
AQ's bats just never cooled off as the Saints got one of the runs back in the top of the fourth after hits from
Emma Houseman and Myers. Aquinas then reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth frame after a bunt single from
Leah Vaughan scored a run and a sacrifice fly to center from Houseman scored another.
Unlike the Saints, the Mustangs bats really cooled off once Vaughan took over pitching duties in the fourth inning. She completely shut down Mount Mercy, allowing just three hits and no runs throughout the remainder of the game.
Aquinas, however, continued its trend of adding runs on the scoreboard in every inning.
Carson Hendrickson hit Myers home on a sacrifice fly before Stafford hit a bomb over the wall for her 10th career homer. AQ then added on another four runs for good measure in the top of the seventh, including an extremely rare event when Hardin stole home.
RBI from Roberts, Hendrickson, and Vaughan in the seventh put a bow on AQ's four consecutive wins.
By the Numbers
Myers was hot in the game against the Mustangs, picking up four hits on five at-bats with two runs and a stolen base. This is the second time in her career that Myers has recorded a four-hit game.
Vaughan went 3-5 at the plate with two RBI during that same game in addition to her four scoreless innings pitched.
Sosnowski and Stafford also recorded at least three hits as the team as a whole found a way to bat even better than they did yesterday with an accumulative batting average of .418. Through the first four games, the Saints are batting an incredible .408 as a team.
Up Next
The Saints have a couple of weeks off until they play again during their spring break trip. Aquinas will be traveling down to the Space Coast Complex in Florida again where they will play 14 games between March 9th and March 14th.
