ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Siena Heights softball team swept the road doubleheader against Concordia (Mich.) on Wednesday afternoon. The Saints ended the first game in six innings with a 10-2 decision before winning the nightcap 3-2. Racquel Ward led the Saints with four RBIs on the day. She was also the starting pitcher in game one, earning the win with five strikeouts.
THE BASICS
Final Scores: Game 1: Siena Heights 10, Concordia 2 (6-innings) | Game 2: Siena Heights 3, Concordia 2
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan (Cardinal Field)
Records: Siena Heights (17-5, 2-0 WHAC), Concordia (14-10, 0-2 WHAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: Siena Heights def. Concordia, 10-2 (6-innings)
The Saints got on the board in the 2nd-inning when Hayley Turk singled to bring Kayla Boland home for the 1-0 lead. Taylor Mowery doubled to score Turk the next play to increase the lead to two runs. The lead extended to 3-0 when Mowery scored on a Cardinal error.
Ashley Helmink hit an RBI-single in the 3rd-inning to score Lily Guerra. Helmink would score two plays later on another CUAA error to put the Saints on top 5-0.
Kristi Carlson led off the 4th-inning with a double and Guerra brought her home with a double before scoring a run off a single by Ward to put the score at 7-0, Siena. Concordia got earned a run on an RBI double and a home run to cut the SHU lead to five runs.
Sam Hill singled to score Jordan Bianchi in the 5th-inning. Ward ended things with a two-run home run for the 10-2 final score in game one.
Game 2: Siena Heights def. Concordia, 3-2
Helmink drilled a double with two outs in the first before crossing the plate off a single by Ward the next play to give Siena the 1-0 lead. Boland then hit a triple to score Ward and extend things to 2-0 before Kelsey Uhl hit a double to score Boland for the Saints three runs of the second game.
An error by the Saints gave the Cardinals a run in the bottom half of the 1st-inning. The final run of the game came in the 4th-inning when Concordia brought a runner home with a single to cut the deficit to one run (3-2).
Siena's defense held fast for the remainder of the game to hold onto the one-run lead and win the final game of the day.
TOP SAINT HITTERS
• Guerra (2-for-4), Helmink (2-for-4), Ward (2-for-4), Mowery (2-for-3), and Carlson (2-for-3) each registered two hits in the first game. Ward tallied three of her four RBIs in the first game.
• Uhl (3-for-4) led the Saint bats in game two with three hits and an RBI.
• Hill finished with one hit in each game for a total of two on the afternoon.
• Boland finished with three hits between the two games. She also totaled two RBIs.
SAINT PITCHING
• Ward (W, 8-1) pitched six innings while allowing five hits, two earned runs, and a home run. She struck out five Cardinals.
• Uhl (W, 6-4) allowed eight hits and one earned run while striking out a batter in 6.0 innings pitched.
THE OPPOSITION HITTING
• Five CUAA players tallied a hit in game one.
• T. Bryan led the Cardinals with two hits in the final game of the day.
OPPOSITION PITCHING
• L. Reichel (L, 7-5) allowed 14 hits, six earned runs, and a home run in the losing effort.
• M. Cieczka (L, 3-5) gave up 12 hits and three earned runs in the game-two loss.
UP NEXT
The Saints return home to host cross-town rival Adrian College in a doubleheader on Thursday, March 28. Game one is scheduled for the first pitch at 3:30 p.m. EDT.
