Rochester Hills, Mich. – The Saints capitalized on some good weather this weekend and played another doubleheader today (Apr. 7), this time against Rochester Christian. AQ put together a strong offensive performance in game one to start the day off in the win column. The Saints took that momentum into game two and earned themselves a sweep and extended their win streak over Rochester to 14 games. Aquinas has never lost to the Warriors and is now 14-0 against RCU all-time.
Today was also a pivotal day in Aquinas College softball history. Head coach,
Brad Koch, tied Crystal Laska's career record of 243 wins and then proceeded to break it with his 244th career win at Aquinas, making him the winningest coach in Aquinas softball history.
Game 1: Aquinas 10, Rochester Christian 4
AQ found itself in the lead after just two batters in the top of the first.
Haley Myers walked and stole second before
Courtney Hardin hit her home with a double. Rochester Christian responded in the bottom of the frame with a three-run homer to put AQ behind by two after one inning.
The Saints got a run back when they came up to bat as
Carson Hendrickson and
Leah Vaughan hit a single and a double to put runners on second and third.
McKenna Hinkle grounded out to second base but scored Hendrickson came home to cut the RCU lead to one.
RCU tacked on another run in the bottom of the second after a walk and a double to establish a two-run advantage again. That changed in the top of the third once the AQ bats came to life. Hardin and
Katie Carlson reached base before
Kaelyn Stafford launched a home run to take a one-run lead.
Singles from
Kim Sosnowski and
Leah Vaughan gave AQ the lead before
Alexa Kownacki and
Haley Myers both recorded hits for AQ's seventh run of the game. Hardin blew the game wide open on the ensuing at-bat when she crushed her second home run of the season to give Aquinas a 10-4 edge. This is the first time this season that the Saints hit multiple home runs in one inning.
Surprisingly, those would be the last runs scored in the game. Both teams stranded some runners, but neither side managed to bring any across home.
Grace Maguire earned her ninth win of the season after punching out five and allowing four runs.
McKayla Mott entered the game in the sixth inning and allowed no hits and struck out three to close out the game.
Game 2: Aquinas 8, Rochester 3
Hardin kept rocking in game two as she hit another double to bring Myers home from first. Carlson hit a single to advance Hardin to third and a sacrifice fly from
Mallory Buikema gave AQ a quick lead.
Hinkle singled with two outs in the second inning and Myers hit her home with an RBI triple before reaching home herself after an RCU error, putting the Saints in the driver's seat with a four-run advantage.
Rochester Christian responded with a run of its own, but AQ immediately got the run back in the third after another Warrior error. However, RCU finally kept the Saints off the scoreboard and capitalized, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth to reduce the AQ lead to just two.
A double from Hendrickson in the top of the fifth shifted the momentum back towards Aquinas as she scored
Darrien Roberts from first. Aquinas then added on two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh, starting with a Roberts double. Hits from
Elizabeth Haunhorst,
McKayla Mott, and Hardin, along with an error, allowed the Saints to bring two more runs home for a commanding 8-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Sydney Bosgraaf returned to the circle as she had eyes on her three-inning save. She struck out the first two batters before allowing a single. That hit didn't amount to anything as the Warriors grounded out on the next at-bat to end the game.
Sophia Pavese was credited with her ninth win of the season after allowing just three runs on five hits. Bosgraaf got her second save of the season after allowing just the one hit and punching out four batters over three innings.
By the Numbers
Hardin had herself a day after recording five hits over eight at-bats. This included two doubles, a home run, five RBIs, a walk, and a pair of stolen bases.
As a team, the Saints outhit Rochester 26-12 over both games. Hendrickson (3), Carlson (3), Myers (3), Roberts (2), Vaughan (2), Stafford (2), and Haunhorst (2) all recorded multiple hits.
Up Next
Aquinas is at "home" against Cornerstone on Wednesday (Apr. 7). The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. over at the Cornerstone Softball Field.
