KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The Siena Heights softball team dropped a pair of one-run decisions in the first two games of the 2020 campaign. The first game was a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Mount Vernon Nazarene. The Saints came up short in a seventh-inning rally in a 6-5 loss against Saint Thomas (Fla.) to end the day. Kristi Carlson (Macomb, Mich.) finished 4-for-7 at the plate while scoring two runs and an RBI. She was the only SHU player to record a hit in both games.
THE BASICS
Final Scores: MVNU 1, SHU 0 / STU 6, SHU 5
Location: Kissimmee, Florida
Records: MVNU (2-1), SHU (0-2), STU (1-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: MVNU def. SHU, 1-0
The Saints struggled at the plate against Mount Vernon Nazarene pitcher, Macee Marcum, as she held the Siena without a hit until the final inning of the game when Carlson recorded a one-out single before being caught stealing for the second out. The Cougars lone run came in the 3rd-inning off a two-out RBI single.
TOP SAINTS
• Carlson finished 1-for-3.
• Kelsey Uhl (L, 0-1) (Toledo, Ohio) pitched all seven innings. She allowed five hits, one run, and struck out two batters.
Game 2: STU def. SHU, 6-5
Carlson got the Saints rolling with a single in the 1st-inning. Uhl was walked on the next at-bat allowing Jordan Bianchi (Shelby Twp., Mich.) to bring Carlson home with an RBI-single. The Bobcats knotted things up in the bottom half of the inning after scoring a run off a Saint error.
Following a scoreless 2nd-inning, Saint Thomas put four more on the board. The first run came off an RBI-single. A wild pitch spotted the Bobcats another run. A double scored an unearned run to put things a 4-1 before Siena Heights gave away another score off an error.
Maddie Vansaw (Grand Blanc, Mich.) doubled to score Haley Rose (Napoleon, Ohio) and bring the Saints three-points closer on the scoreboard.
Carlson doubled to put Sam Hill (Willis, Mich.) on third and score Taylor Mowery (Fenton, Mich.) to put things at 5-3. Lily Guerra (Rockford, Mich.) moved Carlson to third and scored Hill off a ground out to cut the deficit to just one run. Bianchi hit a sac-fly to left field that allowed Carlson to tag up and tie things at five runs. Another error by the Saints put a runner on second to lead off the bottom of the 7th-inning before a walk-off RBI single brought the runner home to end the game.
TOP SAINTS
• Carlson was 3-for-4 while scoring two runs and an RBI in the contest.
• Mowery finished 2-for-3 and scored a run.
• Bianchi had a hit in three at-bats while also tallying two RBIs.
• Kiley Elbaor (L, 0-1) (Highland, Mich.) pitched 4.1 innings and allowed two hits and one run while striking out three Bobcat batters.
THE OPPOSITION
• Eliza Artiles was 2-for-4, two runs, and an RBI.
UP NEXT
The Saints face Florida National at 11:45 a.m., EST, tomorrow before ending day two of the Florida trip against Briar Cliff at 2:00 p.m., EST.