TUCSON, ARIZ. -- The Siena Heights softball team improved to 5-1 after the third day at the Tucson Invitational Games in Tucson, Arizona. The Saints scored 10 runs in the 7th-inning of game one to earn an 18-7 win over Waldorf (Iowa). The second game of the day was over in five innings with Siena blowing out Dakota State (S.D.) 21-3. Ashley Helmink led Siena with four RBIs on five hits on the day.
THE BASICS
Final Scores: Game 1: Siena Heights 18, Waldorf 7 | Game 2: Siena Heights 21, Dakota State 3 (5 innings)
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Records: Siena Heights (5-1), Waldorf (2-2), Dakota State (1-4)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: Siena Heights def. Waldorf, 18-7
Sam Hill hit an infield single to start the game for the Saints. Lily Guerra would move Hill to scoring position with a sacrifice bunt before Kelsey Uhl singled to center field to score Hill while advancing to second base on the throw. Racquel Ward and Ashley Helmink would both walk to load the bases. Uhl would score from third as all three runners advanced on a wild pitch to put the score at 2-0 Siena. Kayla Boland grounded out to second, but would tally an RBI when Ward scored on the play to push the Saints lead to three before the inning ended.
Kristi Carlson led off the 2nd-inning with a single up the middle and scored on the next at-bat to increase the lead to 4-0 in favor of Siena. Hill singled to center field to score Ashley Bearden. Hill would also cross the plate to double the Saints lead from the 1st-inning.
The Warriors would crack the scoreboard in the bottom half of the 2nd-inning when they scored off a Saints error that allowed two runners to step on the plate to put the score at 6-2.
Waldorf (Iowa) would cut the lead to three in the bottom of the 4th-inning with an RBI single before SHU got out of the inning with the third out.
Kayla Boland singled to center to open the 5th-inning. Carlson also singled to center, advancing on the throw and move Boland to third. Hill recorded an RBI single with two outs that scored Boland and Carlson which increased the Siena Heights lead to 8-3.
The Warriors would rally back in the bottom half of the fifth with a two-RBI single to left center field and a two-RBI triple to bring Waldorf within one run of tying the game. The Saints made a pitching change and were able to get out of the inning with the 8-7 lead.
Neither team scored in the 6th-inning. The Saints exploded in the 7th-inning with 10 runs to close out the game. Carlson hit a triple and scored on the ensuing at-bat to put Siena up 9-7. Uhl singled to left center to score Bearden (10-7). Hill scored on the next at-bat (11-7) before Uhl scored on Ashley Helmink's single. Helmink and Hayley Turk each scored on a single to short hit by Carlson. Bearden brought Taylor Mowery home with a double and Lily Guerra hit a three-RBI double to end the scoring for the Saints.
Game 2: Siena Heights def. Dakota State, 21-3 (5 innings)
The Trojans took an early lead in the 1st-inning after a single to center field scored a run during the fouth at-bat of the game. The lead would increase to three runs on anther single to center field scored two runners.
Sam Hill got on base to lead off the bottom half of the 1st-inning with a walk before stealing second. Lily Guerra tripled to right center to score Hill and cut the deficit to two runs (3-1). Kelsey Uhl singled to left center, scoring Guerra and putting the score at 3-2. Racquel Ward blasted a ball over the right center fence for a two-run homerun to take a 4-3 lead. Kayla Boland bunted and beat out the defense for a base hit while scoring Ashley Helmink to put the Saints up 5-3. Boland scored two batter laters to push the lead to three runs. Guerra would double to left field to batter laters to bring in two runs to put the score at 8-3 in favor of SHU.
Helmink homered over the left field wall to increase the score to 9-3. Carlson, Turk, and Bearden would all cross home plate in the 2nd-inning to build a 12-3 lead.
Siena would score the rest of its runs in the 4th-inning. Abriana Hicks scored first in the inning. Izzy Howay stepped on home plate during the next at-bat for the Saints. Helmink tripled to complete the cycle in the game and score two runners to put the score at 15-3. Helmink would score on Boland's single to left field (16-3). Hicks hit a two-RBI double to center and Vanessa Wandrie singled to center field to tally another run. Hicks tallied the final run of the game before the Trojans earned the third out.
TOP SAINTS HITTERS
= Sam Hill led Siena in game one with three hits, two RBIs, and four runs.
= Lily Guerra had a game-high three RBIs against Waldorf.
= Ashley Helmink hit for the cycle with a perfect 4-for-4 performance against Dakota State. She is the first player to complete a cycle in recent memory for the Saints softball program. She crossed home plate three times and brought three additional runs during the game.
= Racquel Ward was 2-for-3 with a homerun against the Trojans.
SAINT PITCHING
= Kelsey Uhl (W, 2-1) pitched for 4.1 innings to earn the win against Waldorf.
= Racquel Ward (W, 3-0) was in the circle for all five innings against Dakota State. She allowed six hits and three earned runs while striking out two batters.
THE OPPOSITION HITTING
= Delcampo was 3-for-3 for the Warriors while teammate Markman was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
= Xitlati Lopez hit 2-for-2 for the Trojans. She also scored a run and had an RBI.
THE OPPOSITION PITCHING
= Leyvas (L) pitched all seven innings for Waldorf. She struck out four Saint batters while allowing 15 hits and seven earned runs.
= Xitlati Lopez (L) pitched three innings and allowed 13 hits and nine earned runs while striking out three SHU batters.
UP NEXT
The Saints get Tuesday off before returning to action on Wednesday, March 6 to face Northwestern (Iowa) at 1:39 p.m. MST and Dakota Wesleyan at 3:30 p.m. MST.
