Esko Alum’s 3-Run Homer Lifts St. Scholastica to Softball Victory

Apr 29

Northland Sports Online

Esko Alum and current St. Scholastica senior Kayla Jenkins hit a three-run home run in the second inning and scored an insurance run in the sixth to help the Saints to a 9-2 win over Minnesota Morris on Friday.

The St. Scholastica softball team won all three games at the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) crossover on Friday and in doing so captured the UMAC regular season title.

The Saints, who improve to a record of 22-11 overall (17-1 UMAC), have now won 15 conference regular season titles and have taken the title the past three seasons.

The Saints were originally scheduled to play just two games Friday and two games Saturday. However, rain in the forecast for Saturday shifted the entire crossover schedule and everybody added a third game today.

The Saints opened the day by defeating Presentation College 6-1. CSS got off to a quick start scoring three runs in the top of the first. Two of the runs came on a Bonnie Kowalczyk (Menomonee Falls, Wis. /Menomonee Falls HS) two-run single. Theresa Tauer (Plymouth, Minn. /Wayzata HS) followed with a RBI-double.

Jordan Spiering (Mounds View, Minn. /Irondale HS) scored on a fielder’s choice in the second to extend the margin to 4-0. After Presentation scored a run in the bottom of the third, the Saints plated two in the top of the fourth. Tauer and Tiffany Hudack (Ashland, Wis. /Ashland HS) had RBIs in the inning.

That is all Darcy Roach (East Grand Forks, Minn. /Sacred Heart HS) needed as she allowed just two hits in the game, while striking out 12 to get the complete game victory. Tauer was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Kowalczyk had three RBIs to lead CSS offensively.

In the second game against Martin Luther College, two of the first three Knights batters hit solo home runs, but the Saints then scored 10 unanswered runs to take the game 10-2 in five innings.

Shannen Schmidt (De Pere, Wis. /De Pere HS) got the Saints on the board with a RBI in the second inning to cut the Martin Luther lead to 2-1. The Saints took control in the third inning with four runs on a two-run single by Kali Carlson (Duluth, MN /Duluth Central HS) and a two-run home run by Kowalczyk.

CSS added four more runs in the fourth and Betsy Wehseler (Ironton, Minn. /Crosby-Ironton HS) had a RBI double in the fifth to end the game by the eight-run mercy rule in five innings, 10-2.

Jen Falk (Altona, Manitoba/W.C. Miller Collegiate (Rainy River CC)) struck out nine to earn the win for the Saints. Carlson and Kowalczyk each had three RBIs.

The Saints then ended the day with a 9-2 victory over the University of Minnesota-Morris.

After the Cougars scored a run in the first inning, the Saints scored four in the second, thanks to a three-run home run by Kayla Jenkins (Esko, MN /Esko HS), her first of her collegiate career.

Merryssa Tiedeman (Zumbrota, MN /Zumbrota- Mazeppa HS) hit a two-run home run in the third inning and Brittni Johnson (Thief River Falls, Minn. /Lincoln HS (Northland CC)) hit a solo home run in the fourth.

Johnson was also inside the circle for the Saints and scattered six hits, struck out eight in seven innings to earn the victory.

The Saints will hopefully wrap up the crossover tomorrow against Bethany Lutheran College with the first pitch scheduled for noon. Please check csssaints.com for further updates.

Comments can be sent to sports@northlandsportsonline.com