Mellisa Barry runs from third to try and beat the throw at home plate. (Drew Bouman/TommieMedia)
Tommie starting pitcher Hayley Dunning pitches a strike in the third inning against St. Benedict. (Drew Bouman/TommieMedia)
Tommies pinch runner makes a break for home. (Drew Bouman/TommieMedia)
Elise Barnes is met at homeplate by teamates to celebrate her home run. This hit gave the Tommies the first point of the game. (Drew Bouman/TommieMedia)
Chase Shortly congradulates closing pitcher Kendall Hopkins on a strikeout. (Drew Bouman/TommieMedia)
The Tommies bat for a single to lead off the fifth inning. (Drew Bouman/TommieMedia)
The Tommies catch a flyball in the infield to give them two outs in the sixth inning. (Drew Bouman/TommieMedia)
Cassie Sinn smiles after a 5-4 Tommie victory over St. Benedicts. (Drew Bouman/TommieMedia)
The No. 6 St. Thomas softball team defeated the No. 21 College of St. Benedict 5-4 in the second game of a double header Wednesday evening at St. Thomas’ South Field.
The Tommies (15-3 overall, 3-1 MIAC) beat the Blazers (14-5 overall, 2-1 MIAC) courtesy of a late surge in the sixth inning when they added two runs to close out the game after falling 3-1 to St. Ben’s earlier in the afternoon.
“In the first game we didn’t have a lot of life in us, and we missed some signs which is costly,” Coach Tschida said. “We had some good hits and we had good pitching (in the second game), if we can do that, we can win. We don’t get rattled too easily, so coming back to win the second game was in our sights.”
Tommie junior Elise Barnes scored her first home run of the season for the Tommies in the bottom of the third inning, landing her only hit in four at-bats.
“It felt good when I hit it, and I’m glad I can contribute to helping the team win the game,” Barnes said. “I was really just happy to see the team rally around it and gain some momentum.”
Senior Melissa Barry landed on base three times throughout the game, hitting two singles and a triple. She added to her total by scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“My goal was to just help the team anyway that I could,” said Barry. “We came back and fought today, it was hard to lose the first one but it showed the grind that we’ve been working super hard on.”
The Blazers attempted a late comeback in the top of the seventh inning, scoring two late runs and landing two batters on base, but a third out on a pop fly ended their momentum and the game.
“The seventh inning was a bit tense, we shouldn’t have allowed them back in,” coach Tschida said.
The Tommies will play tomorrow against Hamline University in another doubleheader at 3:30 and 5:30 p.m.
Jacob Schneider can be reached at schn6923@stthomas.edu.