HELENA, Mont. – Carroll College softball played 30 games away from Helena so far this season. They've played in five different states and another country, but for the first time Sunday afternoon, they played in Helena. They used the home cooking to pick up a doubleheader sweep and a series win over No. 24 Oregon Tech, winning game one 3-0 and game two 3-2 in extra innings.
"What a great day to be a Fighting Saint," head coach
Aaron Jackson said. "To be able to sweep the number 24 team in country on day one and win the series is huge. It was a marquee day for our program."
The Saints (21-11, 8-6 CCC) shutout the Owls (24-9, 12-6 CCC) in the first game behind Alison Williams' strong performance in key situations. She allowed seven hits in the game, including one in each of the first six innings, but Oregon Tech failed to string hits together and left every base runner stranded.
The Saints got the scoring going in the bottom of the third when
Jaylin Kenney hit a leadoff home run that just cleared the centerfield wall.
In the next inning,
Brittany Smith singled to centerfield and in the next at-bat,
Kendall Mooney powered the ball to left for her second home run of the season, scoring Smith and giving Carroll a 3-0 lead.
The Saints held on for the shutout win. Williams gave up seven hits and struck out three, but didn't give up a walk for the entire game.
The Saints only tallied five hits, including two by
Allison Bayer, but it was Mooney and Kenney with the RBIs.
In game two, it was Oregon Tech who got the offense rolling early. They notched two hits and an error to pick two first-inning runs, but the Saints would respond.
In the bottom of the third,
Brittany Hogan doubled to right center to score
Tianna Sell to cut the Oregon Tech lead to 2-1.
In the sixth, with runners on first and third and one out,
Brooke Brewer was caught stealing at second base, but
TJ Rucker scored from third in the commotion to tie the game at 2-2.
The tie held through seven complete innings. In the eighth, OIT picked up a baserunner with a walk in the first at-bat, but Carroll notched a 6-4-3 double play to record a pair of outs and picked up another ground out to get out of the inning.
In the home-half of the eighth, Kenney reached on an error and two batters later, Bayer singled to left to advance Kenney to second giving Williams the chance to end the game with a single.
Williams came up big in the clutch, she singled to left field and Kenney beat out the throw at the plate to pick up the run and the win.
Eaton moves to 9-0 on the season. She gave up five hits and one earned run. She struck out two and walked two in the win.
The Saints racked up eight hits with two each from
Tianna Sell, Bayer and
Anna ApRoberts. Williams and Hogan notched the RBIs on the day.
"Ali and Tess were outstanding on the mound and our offense came through with some big hits," Jackson said. "Defensively we made huge plays."
The game was scheduled to be moved to Missoula, but a Herculean by the Carroll players and coaches, the staff of Helena Public schools and community members allowed field conditions to improve enough to be playable.
"We want to thank all who made today happen," Jackson said. "Our kids cleared two fields of snow, Capital high coaches, and many other Carroll supporters made it all happen by their hours working the field. Also thanks to all the fans that came out and it is great to be home."
The Saints look to sweep the Owls tomorrow with one game left in the series. The game is slated for 11 a.m. at Capital High Field. Live updates are available via twitter.com/ccsaints.
