SYLVANIA, Ohio -- The Siena Heights softball team won three games in the one day, single-elimination Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) tournament. The Saints won 4-0 over Cleary in game one before earning a 5-3 victory over Indiana Tech before completing the trifecta with a 6-4 decision over Northwestern Ohio in the championship game.
THE BASICS
Final Scores: Game 1: SHU 4, Cleary 0 | Game 2: SHU 5, Ind. Tech 3 | Game 3: SHU 6, UNOH 4
Location: Sylvania, Ohio (Pacesetter Park)
Records: SHU (35-14), Cleary (27-15), Indiana Tech (24-25), UNOH (27-14)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: SHU def. Cleary, 4-0
The Saints took an early lead in the bottom of the 1st-inning with an RBI-single up the middle by Kelsey Uhl that brought Jordan Bianchi home and allowed Ashley Helmink to score off an error by the Cougars to give SHU a 2-0 advantage.
Bianchi batted in the next Saint run when she singled to shortstop to score Taylor Mowery in the 4th-inning. Hayley Turk put the final run on the board with a single to second base that allowed Ashley Bearden to cross home plate.
Game 2: SHU def. Indiana Tech, 5-3
Helmink doubled to left field in the bottom of the 1st-inning that brought Bianchi home for the first run of the game. Uhl singled two plays later to score Helmink and bring the lead to 2-0.
The lead increased to three in the 3rd-inning when Racquel Ward hit an RBI double to center field that brought Helmink home for the 3-0 lead.
The Warriors used a two-RBI double to cut the deficit to one run in the 4th-inning. Lily Guerra tripled to center field that scored Kristi Carlson and put Siena up by two runs (4-2). Bianchi drilled a single up the middle to score Guerra to give the Saints back a three-run lead.
The final run came home in the 5th-inning by Indiana Tech to put the score at 5-3 where it would stay through the end of the game.
Game 3: SHU def. UNOH, 6-4
Uhl started the championship game off with a two-RBI single at the bottom of the 1st-inning.
The Racers knotted things up in the 2nd-inning with a single to right center and a Saint wild pitch.
UNOH took a two-run lead in the 4th-inning after a double and single brought runs home for a 4-2 score.
Helmink smashed a triple to bring Guerra and Sam Hill home to tie things at four runs. Ward singled up the middle on the next play to score Helmink and give the Saints a 5-4 lead.
Hill scored the insurance run in the 6th-inning after an RBI-single by Helmink. Siena Heights sealed victory with three outs in the top half of the 7th-inning to earn the WHAC Tournament title.
SAINTS HITTING
• Helmink finished the day with eight hits on the day including a 4-4 showing in the championship game. She brought home four runs on the afternoon including totaling three RBIs in the final game.
• Bianchi was 7-10 at the plate including a perfect 3-3 in the championship game. She finished with two runs and two RBIs.
• Uhl registered two hits against Indiana Tech and UNOH. She finished with four RBIs in the tournament.
• Mowery and Carlson each had two hits in the game against the Warriors.
SAINTS PITCHING
• Ward earned three wins on the day. She pitched a total of 17.1 innings. She allowed nine hits and one earned run while striking out five batters.
• Uhl started the championship game. She pitched 3.2 innings while giving up six hits and three earned runs while striking out one Racer.
THE OPPOSITION
• Kaitlin Dormire and Kelsi Jacobs each had a hit for Cleary.
• Brianna Glass and Caitlyn Walter tallied two hits to lead the Warriors in the losing effort.
• Eleya Montroy led the Racers with two hits and recorded two runs.
OPPOSITION PITCHING
• Natalie O'Reilly pitched 6.0 innings and allowed nine hits and three earned runs in the 4-0 loss in game one.
• The Warriors used four pitchers in the semifinal loss. Jaden Romero earned the loss as the starter. She gave up four hits and two earned runs in 1.1 innings pitched.
• Aubrey Brunst allowed 13 hits and five earned runs while striking out five in the finals for UNOH.
UP NEXT
With the win in the WHAC Tournament finals, the Saints earn the second WHAC automatic bid to the NAIA opening rounds. The seeds and location assignments are scheduled to be announced by the national office on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m.
