University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saturday, May 6
St. Paul, Minn.
11:00 a.m. Central
18-35, 6-14
11
vs
6
Kansas City
9-42, 4-17
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Kansas City
1
0
3
0
2
0
0
6
6
0
St. Thomas
2
2
0
3
4
0
X
11
11
1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bennett, Grace (1-2)
L: Bailey Brumley (2-8)
Batting:
2B: Sydney Nichols 1 ; Amelia Fitzgerald 1
RBI: Sydney Nichols 1 ; Amelia Fitzgerald 4 ; Elleana Navarro 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ally Vonfeldt 1 ; Katherine Karnatz 2 ; Sydney Nichols 2 ; Kiki McCrea 1
Batting:
2B: Ellestad, Brooke 1
HR: Wukawitz, Avery 2 ; Klein, Morgan 2 ; Bennett, Grace 1
RBI: Wukawitz, Avery 2 ; Klein, Morgan 5 ; Goelz, Katie 2 ; Stierlen, Abbi 1 ; Bennett, Grace 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wukawitz, Avery 4 ; Klein, Morgan 3 ; Ellestad, Brooke 1 ; Jacobson, Coryn 1 ; Bennett, Grace 1 ; Rudy, Mackenzie 1
SB: Wukawitz, Avery 1 ; Ellestad, Brooke 1 ; Goelz, Katie 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
4
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
5
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
P/1B/3B
/ SoftballSS
/ Softball1B/OF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballP/UT
/ SoftballP
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballOF/SS
/ Softball
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Five home runs propel Softball to final win of 2023
5/6/2023 5:14:00 PM | Softball
St. Paul, Minn. – The St. Thomas Softball Team (18-35, 6-14 Summit) was locked in a back-and-forth battle with Summit League foe Kansas City (9-42, 4-17 Summit), but five home runs (including a grand slam) were enough to seal the deal in an 11-6 victory to conclude the 2023 season at South Field on Saturday afternoon.
For the second game in a row the Roos of Kansas City jumped out to a one-run lead in the top of the first inning, but the Tommies answered right back in the bottom half. Katie Goelz drove home Avery Wukawitz and Brooke Ellestad on a single to right center field.
After a shutdown inning from freshman Keira Murphy the Tommies would add two more runs in dramatic fashion. With two outs in the inning Avery Wukawitz stepped up to the plate and unloaded on a softball to deposit her fourth home run of the season over the wall. Morgan Klein came up and did the exact same thing for the first home run of her career to give the Toms a 4-1 lead.
Murphy worked herself into a jam in the top of the third and ended up allowing a bases-clearing three-RBI double to tie the game in what would be her final inning of the day. Grace Bennett took over from there and pitched a scoreless fourth inning while working around a two-out walk.
The senior, in her final game as a Tommie, was due up first in the bottom of the inning and she wasted no time in leaving a mark on the game. She promptly put herself in position as the pitcher of record by roping the first pitch of her at-bat over the left field fence. The solo home run was her third of the season and the Tommies retook the lead, 5-4.
One at-bat later Avery Wukawitz smashed another solo home run to make the game 6-4 and then Abbi Stierlen singled to score Morgan Klein, 7-4. Wukawitz's second home run made her just the third Tommie of the DI era with a multi-homer game. The team was winless in the two previous games in which one of its players hit two home runs.
The pesky Roos would not go away and added two more runs in the top of the fifth to make it a one-run game once again.
Coryn Jacobson led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk and then Mackenzie Rudy followed up after two straight strikeouts with a pinch-hit two-out walk. Wukawitz then walked to load the bases for Morgan Klein.
Klein became the fourth Tommie with a multi-homer game. She came through in the clutch with the first grand slam of her career to put Kansas City away for good, 11-6.
Grace Bennett got the first win of her career in her final game. She went four innings in relief, allowed two runs on three hits and two walks.
The offense finished with 11 hits. Wukawitz and Brooke Ellestad each tallied three hits and finished tied at 58 to lead the Summit League. Wukawitz also walked to reach base safely in all four plate appearances, she finished with four runs scored.
Mogan Klein finished with two home runs and five RBI, she added a walk as well. Katie Goelz, Abbi Stierlen, and Grace Bennett each added a hit and an RBI (Goelz had two). Mackenzie Rudy and Coryn Jacobson each walked in their final games for St. Thomas and came around to score on Klein's grand slam.
The Tommies finished the season 18-35 overall and 6-14 in the Summit League. They improved on their 2022-win total (15) by three wins and would have made the Summit League postseason if eligible.
For the second game in a row the Roos of Kansas City jumped out to a one-run lead in the top of the first inning, but the Tommies answered right back in the bottom half. Katie Goelz drove home Avery Wukawitz and Brooke Ellestad on a single to right center field.
After a shutdown inning from freshman Keira Murphy the Tommies would add two more runs in dramatic fashion. With two outs in the inning Avery Wukawitz stepped up to the plate and unloaded on a softball to deposit her fourth home run of the season over the wall. Morgan Klein came up and did the exact same thing for the first home run of her career to give the Toms a 4-1 lead.
Murphy worked herself into a jam in the top of the third and ended up allowing a bases-clearing three-RBI double to tie the game in what would be her final inning of the day. Grace Bennett took over from there and pitched a scoreless fourth inning while working around a two-out walk.
The senior, in her final game as a Tommie, was due up first in the bottom of the inning and she wasted no time in leaving a mark on the game. She promptly put herself in position as the pitcher of record by roping the first pitch of her at-bat over the left field fence. The solo home run was her third of the season and the Tommies retook the lead, 5-4.
One at-bat later Avery Wukawitz smashed another solo home run to make the game 6-4 and then Abbi Stierlen singled to score Morgan Klein, 7-4. Wukawitz's second home run made her just the third Tommie of the DI era with a multi-homer game. The team was winless in the two previous games in which one of its players hit two home runs.
The pesky Roos would not go away and added two more runs in the top of the fifth to make it a one-run game once again.
Coryn Jacobson led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk and then Mackenzie Rudy followed up after two straight strikeouts with a pinch-hit two-out walk. Wukawitz then walked to load the bases for Morgan Klein.
Klein became the fourth Tommie with a multi-homer game. She came through in the clutch with the first grand slam of her career to put Kansas City away for good, 11-6.
Grace Bennett got the first win of her career in her final game. She went four innings in relief, allowed two runs on three hits and two walks.
The offense finished with 11 hits. Wukawitz and Brooke Ellestad each tallied three hits and finished tied at 58 to lead the Summit League. Wukawitz also walked to reach base safely in all four plate appearances, she finished with four runs scored.
Mogan Klein finished with two home runs and five RBI, she added a walk as well. Katie Goelz, Abbi Stierlen, and Grace Bennett each added a hit and an RBI (Goelz had two). Mackenzie Rudy and Coryn Jacobson each walked in their final games for St. Thomas and came around to score on Klein's grand slam.
The Tommies finished the season 18-35 overall and 6-14 in the Summit League. They improved on their 2022-win total (15) by three wins and would have made the Summit League postseason if eligible.
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