On a hot spring afternoon in St. Paul, South Field played host to two late-inning thrillers between the St. Thomas and Gustavus softball teams.

The No. 17-ranked Tommies (25-7 overall, 9-5 MIAC) dropped two games in extra innings Tuesday, allowing the Gusties (20-12, 10-4 MIAC) to vault ahead in the MIAC standings.

“First of all, their record is no indication of the type of team they are. They have two Division-I caliber pitchers and athlete-wise, they return everybody from a team that’s been second in the conference for the last two or three years for the most part,” coach John Tschida said. “The good thing is we had two good games with them.”

In game one, the Tommies and Gusties remained in a 0-0 stalemate until the top of the eighth inning. Gustavus managed to get a runner on in the top inning following an error by shortstop Megan Dupuis.

Gustavus stranded 10 runners on base throughout the game but played small-ball to move second baseman Carly Klass to second in the crucial stages of the game. Left fielder Paige Breneman drove in Klass on a single to left field. The Gusties weren’t done, as they managed to score one more in the extra frame.

The Tommies were retired in the bottom of the eighth with one runner left on base. Pitcher Kendra Bowe threw six and two-thirds innings and allowed nine hits for St. Thomas. Bowe also struck out five and said she felt comfortable on the mound all game with runners in scoring position.

“I would say overall most of my pitches were working pretty well. I did leave a couple over the plate, and when I did, they executed,” Bowe said. “I felt very confident and very comfortable that we were going to get out of every inning.”

The second game followed suit, and runs were hard to come by. The contest remained scoreless until the top of the sixth. Pitcher Morgan Murphy pitched four scoreless innings for the Tommies before being replaced by Katie Jo Delisle in the fifth.

Another error by Dupuis, this time in the sixth inning of the 0-0 game, allowed the Gusties to start the rally. It was Klass again who reached on the error and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Third baseman Kaitlyn Bicek doubled to left-center with one out to break the game open.

“If you want to win those game against good teams … you’ve got to get your bunts down. We made some timely errors. Make an error and that’s hats off to the other team for capitalizing,” Tschida said. “Make an error and that’s what you’ve got to do is capitalize. If you want to win, that’s what you’ve got to do and have a kid step up at the right time.”

Following the double, the Gusties answered again with an RBI single from Breneman to make it 2-0. The Tommies managed to stop the bleeding and strand the Gustie baserunner.

St. Thomas answered in its last opportunity to score in regulation with a single from designated hitter Brooke Pantila. Following the single, right fielder Annie Boyer drove a single into right field, allowing Pantila and Boyer to advance into scoring position. Catcher Danielle Tschann drove both runners in to tie the game at two in the bottom of the seventh.

“My approach was get it done. I had a job to do to get those runners in, and I executed,” Tschann said. “At that point I just knew that I had to run. I was just so focused on where the (pitch) was and hitting it that it didn’t matter where it went as long as I kept moving forward.”

One batter later, St. Thomas had runners on first and third after second baseman Micaela Trainor’s single down the right field line with no outs. The Tommies tried a suicide squeeze with pinch hitter Allison Rice, but she popped into a double play to send the game to extra innings. Both teams went down in order in the eighth and ninth innings.

In the top of the tenth, by rule, the player who made the last out from the ninth inning was placed on second with no outs. Gustavus managed to score a run on a one-out double to deep center by first baseman Kailey Morgan, followed by two hits and two more runs by Gusties. St. Thomas scored its runner from second in the bottom of the tenth before being halted, giving Gustavus a 5-3 victory.

“In my career, 30 years, I think we’ve only lost maybe 10 times two in a row, maybe 11… something stupid small. That’s a reflection of the players’ character and work ethic and also intelligence of adjusting,” Tschida said. “When we lose we don’t get too out of whack, we just come back and go to work.”

St. Thomas hosts Carleton on Thursday.

Jordan Kruger can be reached at krug6172@stthomas.edu.