COLUMBUS, GA. – The Sagehens fell to #5 Saint Mary's University of Minnesota by an 2–0 final in game one and 6-8 against College of Saint Benedict in game two in day one of the NFCA DIII Leadoff Classic.
Season Impact: With the losses, the Sagehens record is now to 2–7 overall and 1–2 in SCIAC play.
Game One
Sagehens 0, SMUMU 2
The Sagehens only saw hits from Sadie Huryn, Yuri Song and Audrey Reimers each notching one. Reimers pitched all seven innings striking out two.
Both teams threatened early but were unable to capitalize in the opening innings. The Sagehens created its best opportunity in the bottom of the first after Song singled to left field and Kylie Liu and Gianna Phillips drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. However, the Cardinals escaped the jam to keep the game scoreless. Saint Mary's broke through in the top of the third inning to give the Cardinals a 1–0 advantage. The Cardinals added another run later in the contest to extend their lead to 2–0, while the Sagehens continued to search for an offensive breakthrough. The offense struggled for the Sagehens as they could not bring a runner home.
Game Two
Sagehens 3, CSB 11
The Sagehens notched a total of 12 hits in the game with eight different Sagehens getting one or more hits. Gianna Phillips, Audrey Reimers, Violet Burnham and Sophia Roberts each tallied two hits and Claire Sefkow led the Sagehens with two RBIs. Nyla Springer started in the circle facing eight batters and striking one out before Ava Bautista took over the mound. Bautista pitched 6.1 innings and struck out seven batters. Saint Benedict jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning, scoring five runs on four hits to take a 5–0 advantage. The Sagehens responded in the bottom of the first as Sadie Huryn singled and later came around to score on an RBI double from Phillips, cutting the deficit to 5–1. Saint Benedict added two more runs in the second to extend its lead to 7–1, but the Sagehens chipped away in the bottom half of the inning. Burnham got things going with a single to left field and Roberts followed her with a single to the right side. Sefkow delivered an RBI single and Natalie Murguia brought home another run on a groundout to trim the deficit down to 7-3. Yuri Song hit an RBI single to end the second with the score of 7–4. The Sagehens continued their comeback effort in the third inning as Reimers started things with a double and Roberts drove her in with a RBI single. After a pitching change, Sefkow hit a sacrifice fly bringing the Sagehens within one at 7–6. Both teams threatened in the middle innings, but neither side was able to capitalize. Saint Benedict added an insurance run in the top of the seventh to push the lead to 8–6. The Sagehens were unable to generate a rally in the bottom of the seventh, as Saint Benedict held on for the 8–6 victory.
Up Next: The Sagehens play #9 East Texas Baptist University at 10:00 AM EST and University of Mount Union at 12:30 PM EST in the NFCA DIII Leadoff Classic on Saturday Mar. 7th.
