TUCSON, AZ. – The St. John Fisher College softball team stunned the No. 14 University of St. Thomas (Minn.) Tommies and used a late-inning comeback to defeat the Piedmont College Lions on Saturday night at Abraham Lincoln Regional Park. With the wins, the Cardinals improved to 7-3 on the year while St. Thomas fell to 3-2 and Piedmont dropped to 6-6.
FISHER 7, NO. 14 ST. THOMAS 4
The Cardinals were the first to strike in the top of the second inning after the Tommies committed two defensive errors which landed two Fisher runners on the base path.
Sammie Torlish knocked a sac fly to right field to score the first run before
Emma Smith singled to center field to score again, putting Fisher on top, 2-0.
Abby Flakus crushed a ground-rule double over the head of the center fielder in the top of the third frame to score
Emily Trotman who doubled to left field just two batters prior.
Fisher extended the lead in the fourth inning after another St. Thomas error put a batter on base, then
Maddie Klidonas and Trotman knocked back-to-back singles to put two more Cardinals runs on the board.
The top of the sixth inning brought about Fisher's largest lead of the night after Klidonas and Trotman hit consecutive base knocks for a second time, scoring two runs and putting Fisher up 7-0.
The Tommies didn't give up the fight, as they put together a rally for four runs on five hits, but the Fisher lead was too great as the Cardinals took the 7-4 upset over their nationally-ranked opponent.
Errors proved costly for No. 14 St. Thomas as the Cardinals scored six of their seven runs on their five defensive mistakes.
Trotman was stellar in the circle yet again for the Cardinals as she didn't surrender a single walk and struck out five in her complete game as her record improved to 4-2. The junior also led the Cardinals on the bases as she went 3-for-4 with two RBI while her classmate, Klidonas, went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Rounding out the hitting for Fisher was Flakus,
Megan Kreger, and Smith who each had one base hit.
FISHER 4, PIEDMONT 3
Facing a three-run deficit in the second inning, Torlish knocked a base hit before
Allison Rogowski singled to allow Torlish to cross the plate, scoring the first Fisher run of the nightcap.
Piedmont held their steady 3-1 lead until the fifth inning when the Cardinals caught fire.
Maria Marcera and Flakus sliced consecutive singles to put runners in scoring position for the home team. After Kreger reached on a fielder's choice, runners remained at first and second base with two outs. Unphased by the defense,
Allie Klonowski stepped into the batter's box and crushed a beauty over the left field fence for her first-career home run – a three-RBI shot – which gave the Cardinals the lead, 4-3.
Torlish followed up Klonowski's base-clearing with a single of her own then
Emma Smith drew a walk to put runners on first and second base. In the following at bat, Rogowski ripped her second run-scoring hit of the day – a ground-rule double to left field – to add another run to the board, 5-3.
Facing a time constraint, Piedmont was not able to create any meaningful offense before the game was called complete by the umpires, awarding Fisher their second win of the day.
Jess Patterson got the win in the circle after facing 27 batters in 6.0 innings, allowing five hits, walking three batters, and striking out eight. Her record is now 3-1.
Fisher doubled the amount of hits that their opponent put on the board as the Cardinals out-hit the Lions, 11-5. All nine batters in the Cardinals' lineup reached base at least once in the contest. Klonowski, Torlish, and Rogowski each had two hits in three at bats while Klonowski had three RBI and Rogowski had two RBI. The remaining base hits for Fisher were knocked by Trotman, Marcera, Flakus, Kreger, and Klidonas.
Softball concludes their spring break trip in the NFCA Leadoff Classic tomorrow when they meet with No. 1 Texas Lutheran University at 11 A.M. MST (1 P.M. EST) and Emory University at 1 P.M. (3 P.M. EST).
