Tauer’s Squeeze Bunt Propels Saints to Championship Game

May 4, 2012

Northland Sports Online

Despite winning the conference by six games, the St. Scholastica softball team was put to the test in the first day of the double elimination Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament, escaping a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning against Northland College to win 7-3 in the morning cap and then using a Theresa Tauer (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) squeeze bunt to score Shauney Moen (St. Francis, Minn./St. Francis HS) in a 5-4 walk-off victory against Northwestern College Friday afternoon at Kenwood Field.

In game one against Northland, the Saints got runs by Merryssa Tiedemann and Kali Carlson (Duluth, MN/Duluth Central HS) in the opening inning on a throwing error off of a Tauer infield hit. Tauer would reach third base on the error. In the next at bat, Bonnie Kowalczyk (Menomonee Falls, Wis. /Menomonee Falls HS) would then hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Tauer.

Northland would answer two innings later on a two-RBI double from Jayna Loy to make the score 3-2 in favor of the Saints. Loy would find her mark again in the sixth inning, hitting a solo home run to left field to tie it at 3-3.

Tiedemann would answer Loy’s hit in the bottom of the sixth with a solo shot of her own to left field. Although this eventually would be the game winning run, the Saints were not done as Kowalczyk doubled to center field to score Carlson and later in the inning Darcy Roach (East Grand Forks, Minn./Sacred Heart HS) hit a ball to right center field for a two-RBI double. This would complete all scoring for the game and the Saints would go onto win 7-3.

Roach picked up her 17th win on the year for the Saints, scattering eight hits while striking out seven LumberJill batters. Roach had no walks in the outing. Loy, Northland’s pitcher, had an impressive outing herself in the losing effort, giving up only seven hits and fanning four batters.

Offensively for the Saints, Carlson was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Kowalczyk had a team-high two runs batted in. The Saints stole four bases and committed two errors.

With the victory, the Saints would move onto the semifinal game to face Northwestern College who defeated Minnesota-Morris 3-0 in the first game of the tournament.

Against the Eagles, the Saints once again struck first on the scoreboard in the opening inning with a Jordan Spiering (Mounds View, Minn. /Irondale HS) double to left field to score Molly Jazdzewski (Duluth, Minn. /Duluth Central HS). Jazdzewski then hit a double to center field in the following inning, scoring Tiffany Hudack and Tauer.

The Eagles would respond in the fourth inning on a Kristin Sigurdsen solo home run to cut the lead to 4-1. Lindsay Deans followed up a couple of batters later with a two-RBI double to left center field. The Eagles then tied it up 4-4 in the fifth inning on a Briana Rodgers solo home run.

Both teams would play solid defensively in the sixth inning allowing no runs on either side. This inning would be the only inning neither team would score.

In the seventh inning, Roach struck out all three batters to set up a walk-off victory attempt for the Saints. Tiedemann would hit a single up the middle in the opening at bat of the inning. Moen would then be substituted to pinch run for Tiedemann. Carlson stepped into the box and on pitch one of the at bat, Moen stole second. On pitch two, Carlson sacrifice bunted to the pitcher to advance Moen to third. Tauer was up next and on a 2-1 fastball, Tauer hit a squeeze bunt to score Moen from third to propel the Saints to a 5-4 victory and a spot in tomorrow’s UMAC Tournament Championship game.

Roach picked up her second victory of the day and her 18th of the year for the Saints. She allowed the same amount of hits as game one with eight, but this time struck out 12 batters. Molly Johnsen, Roach’s counterpart, had a solid outing herself, giving up seven hits and striking out six Saint batters.

Offensively for the Saints, Jazdzewski was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Barb Malyuk (Ashland, Wis. /Ashland HS) was 2-for-3 with an RBI. The Saints would steal five bases as a team and commit no errors.

The Saints will now wait to play the winner of the elimination game between Minnesota-Morris and Northwestern. The winner of that game must defeat the Saints twice in a row to capture the UMAC Tournament title. The Saints only have to win one game to claim the title.

The game between Morris and Northwestern is scheduled for 10 am local time and the Championship game is scheduled to start 30 minutes after that game. Follow csssaints.com for live stats for both of these games.

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