Saint Thomas Aquinas hosted ELK rival Blue Valley Northwest on tax day for a marathon defensive struggle.  The Saints won the first game of the double header 1-0 in the bottom of the 10^th inning.

The Huskies stranded two runners in the first inning on two hits by Koziol and Brooke Thomason.  The Saints countered by stranding two runners of their own on two walks by Ellen Drummond and Ashley Dobbie in the bottom of the inning. 

The second and third innings were 3 and out for both teams.  Saints pitcher Kellie White struck out two and got a pop up out to end the top of the fourth inning.  The Saints stranded another two runners in the bottom of the fourth on walks by Dobbie and Hailie Horn. 

The Huskies stranded Kaylee Jones after a single in the top of the fifth inning.  The Saints matched that, stranding Dobbie (HBP) in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

The Huskies threatened in the top of the seventh inning when Kelsey Horton hit a triple down the right field line.  Once again, they failed to plate a runner, as the Saints defense fielded two infield groundouts, holding Horton at third, and White fanned the final batter of the inning.  The Saints had another scoring opportunity after Lauren Thimmesch walked (Colleen Beasley-substitution) and moved to scoring position on a single by Jenna Boutte.  The Huskies defense ended the inning on an infield ground out.

Now in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Saints took advantage of a Husky error as Drummond reach first base.  Janessa Swinney sacrifice bunted Drummond to second.  Dobbie grounded out, advancing Drummond to third base.  Horn walked and advanced to second on defensive indifference.  Nicole Peterson fanned the final batter to preserve the 0-0 score.

Northwest’s Thomason started the ninth inning with a double down the left field line.  White stuck out the next batter and the Saints defense took care of the final two outs, stranding Thomason at third base.

Joes singled for the Huskies to start the tenth inning, but was forced out at second on a fielder’s choice.  White got out number two with another strike out, and the Saints defense got a ground out to close out the side.  The Saints’ Andrea Piezuch singled to start of the bottom of the inning.  She stole second base, and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Drummond.  Swinney hit a shot to the short stop and was thrown out at first, but that was enough for speedster Piezuch as she scored on the throw, to claim the shutout win for the Saints.

Saint Thomas Aquinas Saints

White / Horn - 6 H, 9 SO, 0 BB, 0 ER, 10 IP  White-W

Dobbie .750 OBP, Swinney 1 RBI

Blue Valley Northwest Huskies

Peterson / Rudolph – 2 H, 5 SO, 6 BB, 1 ER, 9.67 IP  Peterson – L

Jones and Thomason 2 for 4

Game 2

The Huskies stranded two runners in the top of the first inning on singles by Koziol and Thomason.  The Saints scored in the bottom of the inning on a walk by Drummond and an RBI double by Swinney.

The Saints stranded two runners in the bottom of the second inning on walks by White and Jacquinot.

Aquinas scored another run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a walk by Horn, a Sacrifice bunt by White, a passed ball, and a defensive error.

The Saints scored another two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on a single by Boutte, walks by Piezuch and Drummond, a wild pitch and an RBI ground out by Dobbie.

Northwest scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning when Thomason reach on an error and K Horton tripled into left-center for the RBI.  Horton scored on a misplayed pop up from Rudolph.

The Saints’ Katelyn Nill struck out the first batter in the top of the seventh inning, and the Saints defense took care of the remaining two outs as the Saints completed the sweep.

Saint Thomas Aquinas Saints

Nill / Horn - 4 H, 4 SO, 1 BB, 0 ER, 7 IP  Nill-W

Boutte and Swinney 1 for 2, Drummond .667 OBP

Blue Valley Northwest Huskies

Koziol / Rudolph – 2 H, 0 SO, 7 BB, 3 ER, 4.00 IP  Koziol – L

Peterson / Rudolph - 0 H, 3 SO, 0 BB, 0 ER, 2.00 IP 

The Saints move to 6-0 for the season.  Saint Thomas Aquinas will host thier annual Saints Classic softball tournament on Friday, April 24th at Mid America West.