HELENA, Mont. – The Carroll College softball team came from behind and earned a 5-4 win on a walk-off single before earning a 9-0 run rule win and a four-game sweep of Northwest Christian Saturday at Centennial Park in Helena.
"It was a great day to be a Saint," head coach
Aaron Jackson said. "To come back in game one and get the series sweep was a huge gut check for us. I am proud of my team on how they responded to a rough start. To get the conference and the weekend sweep is huge."
The Beacons looked in control early in the first game. They score a pair of runs in the first inning and added additional runs in the second and third to take a 4-0 lead into the fourth.
Carroll finally got the bats into action in the fourth. A sac-fly from
Megan Gipe scored
Anna ApRoberts, but the Saints left two runners on base in scoring position.
In the fifth, with runners on first and second, ApRoberts hammered the ball over the centerfield wall to tie the game at 4-4, but again, the Saints left runners on.
Allison Williams entered in relief of Brook Brown in the fifth and allowed just one hit in three innings.
The game entered the top of the seventh tied, but it wouldn't remain tied for long. ApRoberts Doubled to center field with one out to immediately get into scoring position. Alison Bayer singled to right field in the next at-bat, sending Aproberts home from second and winning the game in walk-off fashion.
Williams earned her second win in as many days, striking out two and allowing just one hit in three innings of work. Aproberts was stellar, going 3-4, scoring three runs and notching three RBIs.
"
Anna ApRoberts had a huge day for us at the plate, and
Allison Bayer came through with a huge walk-off hit to clinch the conference sweep," Jackson said.
For all the drama of the first game, the second was a blowout from the first inning.
ApRoberts hit a solo home run to get the scoring going in the bottom of the first, and it snowballed from there.
Kendall Mooney singled to left to score
Megan McCormick. On the next at-bat,
Jaylin Kenney tripled to right to score Mooney and
Hannah Alcorn. The Saints closed out the five-run first with an
Ashley Davis Sac-Fly to score Kenney.
In the second inning, McCormick homered to score ApRoberts, bringing the score to 7-0. In the fourth, Davis singled to right and scored Mooney and Alcorn.
Courtney Schroeder pitched the first shutout win of her career. She allowed just three hits, notched three strikeouts without giving up a walk.
"In the second game to come out in the first two innings and dominate was a huge step for us offensively," Jackson said. "We got another great day from our pitching staff and believe the staff deserves Pitcher of the Week award for the Cascade."
The four-win weekend sweep gives the Saints an 8-7 record on the year and a 6-3 Cascade Conference mark.
The Saints are again at home next week when they host Eastern Oregon Friday and Saturday in a pair of doubleheaders at Centennial Park.
