University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saint Mary's
Softball gets exciting win No. 800 for Tschida
4/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
ST. PAUL – A McKenzie Wergin two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning secured a 3-2 win in game one before a 7-1 win gave the St. Thomas softball team a sweep over Saint Mary's University in an MIAC doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at South Field. With this afternoon's results, the Tommies improve to 23-5 overall and 7-3 in the MIAC, while the Cardinals drop to 10-10 overall and 4-4 in league play.
Game 1 – St. Thomas 3, Saint Mary's 2
The first game of the doubleheader quickly settled in to a pitcher's dual, as the two teams remained in a scoreless tie through the first three and a half innings. St. Thomas was the first to put a run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth when a Cardinal error allowed Danielle Wigen to score from third.
Saint Mary's answered with a much-needed two-run home run in the top of the sixth thanks to Stanzy Snyder. Snyder's bomb scored Kali Aldrich, who led off the inning with a single to center field. The homer gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead that they would hang on to in to the bottom of the seventh and final inning.
Needing one run to keep the game alive, the Tommies strung together three straight base hits to capture a dramatic 3-2 win. With one out, Allison Rice delivered a pinch-hit single to center. Kendra Bowe followed with a double to left.
With runners now on first and second, senior McKenzie Wergin stepped to the plate and knocked a two-run, game-winning single up the middle to lift her team to victory.
A combined total of nine hits were recorded in the seven innings between the two teams, as each pitcher was on point. Tommie Kendra Bowe went all seven innings, allowing two runs on just three hits and striking out nine. Her counterpart, Ashley Betzold, allowed three runs on six hits, three of which came in the seventh inning, and struck out three.
Bowe and Wergin were the only two players to record multiple hits in the game. Bowe went a perfect 3-for-3 and scored a run in the game, while Wergin went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI.
The dramatic win marked Head Coach John Tschida's 800th of his 21-year career. He won 207 in six seasons at Saint Mary's, and has won 594 games in 15 seasons at St. Thomas. His overall record of 801-142 equates to an .849 winning percentage. That's the best among all coaches at all NCAA levels – active or retired.
Tschida becomes just the eighth coach in Division III softball history to reach 800 victories.
Game 2 – St. Thomas 7, Saint Mary's 1
Game two began similarly to the first, as the teams went to the bottom of the fifth inning with a 1-0 score in favor of St. Thomas after it scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first thanks to an RBI single to right from Annie Boyer.
But the Tommies went on to score four runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 5-0 lead. Katie Jo Delisle knocked in a two-run double to center before Boyer brought in a run with a double to right and later scored on a Micaela Trainor single to right.
UST tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth on a Megan Dupuis two-run home run before Saint Mary's got on the board with a run in the top of the seventh.
For the game, the Tommies outhit the Cardinals 11-4, led by Boyer and Bianca Peterson. Boyer went 3-for-3 with two RBI in the game, while Peterson was 3-for-4. Dupuis and Delisle also tallied two RBI apiece.
In the circle, Delisle went five and two-thirds innings, allowing one run on three hits and struck out seven in the win. Ashley Betzold was tagged with the loss for the Cardinals after throwing four and two-thirds innings with four runs and seven hits allowed. Betzold also struck out three.
The Tommies will be back in action on Friday when they travel down Grand Ave., to take on Macalester in a doubleheader that is set to begin at 4:30 pm.
