Sylvania, OH – Easter may be around the corner, but the Aquinas softball team decided to give Head Coach Brad Koch an early gift—a pair of crucial road wins against Lourdes on Tuesday afternoon. Both squads entered the WHAC match-up locked in a battle for postseason positioning, hoping to punch their ticket to the conference tournament in early May.

After a rough Sunday sweep at the hands of UNOH, the Saints bounced back in a big way, taking both games from the Gray Wolves and giving Coach Koch a sweet reason to celebrate.

Game 1: Aquinas 5, Lourdes 3

After a rocky start, the Saints rebounded with a clutch second-inning rally and dominant pitching to secure a 5-3 victory over Lourdes on a breezy afternoon in Ohio.

The Gray Wolves struck first, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first with some timely hitting. But Aquinas quickly flipped the script in the top of the second, plating four runs to seize momentum.

Sophomore Jaden Benschoter sparked the rally with a double to left center, scoring Abby Nieswender. Alea Fisher followed with an RBI single, and Patrina Marsh capped the inning with a two-run single, giving AQ a 4-3 lead.

Benschoter stayed hot in the third, ripping another RBI double to score Carson Hendrickson and extend the lead to 5-3.

From there, it was all Sophia Pavese in the circle. The junior right-hander was lights out in relief, tossing 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, and striking out seven. She completely shut down the Lourdes offense after Ada Bradford's early struggles in the first.

Benschoter finished 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs. Hendrickson also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Marsh drove in two, and Fisher added a run scored and an RBI.

The Saints defense played error-free ball behind Pavese's gem, holding Lourdes to just five hits—four of which came in the first inning.

Inside the Numbers (Game 1)

• Sophia Pavese: 6.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K – Earned the win
• Jaden Benschoter: 2-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R
• Carson Hendrickson: 2-4, 2 R
• Alea Fisher: 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 R

Game 2: Aquinas 8, Lourdes 4

The Saints exploded for four runs in the top of the seventh to seal an 8-4 win and complete the WHAC doubleheader sweep in dramatic fashion.

Alea Fisher turned in a monster performance, going a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with a triple, three singles, and four RBIs. Her game-tying hit in the sixth and go-ahead RBI single in the seventh were crucial in AQ's comeback win.

The Saints struck first when Kenzie Jordan scored on a Fisher RBI single in the second. In the fourth, Fisher tripled and later scored on an Angelina Lanham single, pushing the lead to 3-0. Lourdes answered with two runs in the bottom half and two more in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead.

Undeterred, Aquinas tied it up in the sixth on Fisher's third RBI of the day.

Then came the fireworks in the seventh:
Katie Carlson led off with a solo homer to left. Abby Nieswender followed with a two-run blast. Fisher capped the rally with her fourth RBI of the game to put the Saints ahead 8-4.

Sophia Pavese earned her second win of the day, closing out the game with two strong innings in relief. The Saints racked up 13 hits, with multi-hit efforts from Benschoter (2-for-4), Nieswender (2-for-4), and Jordan, who scored twice.

The AQ defense continued to shine, turning a key double play and keeping the Gray Wolves in check down the stretch.

With the sweep, Aquinas improves to 22-18 overall and 7-9 in WHAC play. The Saints now face a grueling stretch with two more sets of conference doubleheaders over the next four days.

Inside the Numbers (Game 2)

• Alea Fisher: 4-4, 3B, 4 RBI, 1 R
• Katie Carlson: 1-2, HR, BB
• Abby Nieswender: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, 1 R
• Sophia Pavese: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K – Second win of the day

Coach's Comment

Head Coach Brad Koch praised his team's resilience:

"Big conference sweep for us today. Got down a couple times but kept working our way back and got it done. Proud of our squad."

Up Next

Aquinas will hit the road again, traveling to Adrian, MI to face Siena Heights in a battle of the Saints. The teams will square off in a doubleheader, with Game 1 set for a 3:00 PM first pitch and Game 2 beginning about 20 minutes after the conclusion of the opener.

Be sure to visit www.aqsaints.com for game recaps, stats, stories, and everything in the world of AQ Athletics.