ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights softball team won both games in the doubleheader against Calumet College Saint Joseph (Ind.) on Sunday afternoon. Racquel Ward led the Saints with five RBIs and five hits on the afternoon.
THE BASICS
Final Scores: Game 1: Siena Heights 11, Calumet 3 (5-innings) | Game 2: Siena Heights 16, Calumet 15
Location: Adrian, Michigan
Records: Siena Heights (15-3), Calumet (2-20)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: Siena Heights def. Calumet, 11-3 (5 innings)
The Crimson Wave took an early 1-0 lead after a double by Samantha Lopez scored a run in the 1st-inning. Sam Hill singled to get on base to lead off the bottom half of the inning. Ashley Helmink hit a two-run homer two batters later to give Siena the 2-1 lead.
Calumet would retake the lead 3-2 with a two-run single in the 3rd-inning. A Crimson Wave error would allow two Saint runners to cross home plate. Taylor Mowery and Lily Guerra singled to bring in two more runs to extend the lead to 6-3. Kristi Carlson then singled to score both Guerra and Mowery to extend the lead further. Siena finished the inning with three more runs to earn the 11-3 advantage.
Game 2: Siena Heights def. Calumet, 16-15
The Crimson Wave took an early lead again. This time, the lead was 4-0 after the team hit three doubles in a row in the top half of the 1st-inning. Hill got on base with a single to lead off the Saints offensive half of the first. Mowery scored Hill with a single to cut the deficit to 4-1. Racquel Ward doubled to score two runs and then crossed the plate three batters later on a wild pitch to tie the game at four runs.
Calumet finished the top half of the 2nd-inning with a 7-4 lead, but the Saints tallied five more runs to hold a 9-7 advantage. Each team tallied two more runs in the third for an 11-9 game. The Crimson Wave had a huge 5th-inning as they scored six runs to take a 15-11 lead. Ward hit a double to score Helmink and Boland singled to score Ward to cut the deficit to just two runs with only two innings left in the game.
Mowery brought Siena within one run (15-14) to tie when she doubled to bring Ashley Bearden home. Calumet walked Boland with the bases loaded to give the Saints the tying run. After holding the Crimson Wave scoreless in the top of the seventh, Kelsey Uhl would finish the game with a single that scored Hayley Turk to give Siena its third walk-off win in the last four games.
TOP SAINT HITTERS
• Ashley Helmink finished with two hits in each game for four total on the day. She recorded three RBIs in game one.
• Racquel Ward had three hits and two RBIs in game one and two hits, three RBIs in game two.
• Vanessa Wandrie and Alyssa Marshall finished with two hits in game two. Wandrie scored a run and had two RBIs in the game.
• Sam Hill tallied three hits and three runs on the afternoon.
SAINTS PITCHING
• Racquel Ward struck out five batters and allowed only one earned run in the game-one win.
• Ward earned the win in game two in relief as she pitched 2.2 innings to gain the decision.
OPPOSITION HITTING
• Celeste Robles finished with five hits for the day to lead the Crimson Wave.
• Samntha Lopez had two hits in each game to finish with four. She also led the team with three RBIs in game one.
• Brianna Wisniewski led the team with four RBIs in game two.
OPPOSITION PITCHING
• Emma Cenzon earned the loss in game one for Calumet. She struck out two batters while giving up seven earned runs and a home run.
• Ariana Perales received the loss after 3.1 innings pitched and five earned runs.
UP NEXT
The Saints will host Saginaw Valley State on Monday (March 25) in a doubleheader starting at 3:30 p.m.
