The Dominican University softball team scored four times in the top of the seventh for a 7-6 win over the Benedictine University Eagles after dropping game one to the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) champions, 12-3. The split pushes the Stars to 29-11 on the season and earns Dominican the fifth seed in the upcoming NACC Tournament.
"I was really proud of the way the girls battled back and fought to the end," said head coach Cristina Lukas. "After a tough first game loss, we hit great in the second game…taking stuff we have been working on really hard and applying it to the game. It was nice to see us produce a bunch of runs and I hope the momentum can carry over into the tournament."
The Stars will meet the Aurora University Spartans in the first round of the conference tournament on Thursday at Alverno Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. First pitch of the matchup is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. as game two of the double-elimination tournament. The winner will meet Benedictine at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday while the loser will play in an elimination game at 9:00 a.m. on Friday.
Game One: Benedictine 12, Dominican 3 (5 Inn.)
With Benedictine leading 3-1 in the fourth inning, the Eagles rallied for nine runs to put the game out of reach. Dominican's
Sydney Kuderna suffered the loss, falling to 13-7 on the season in the circle. The sophomore was charged with eight runs, six earned, on ten hits and one walk over three-plus innings.
Offensively, the Stars managed five hits, scoring three runs off of the Eagles' Holly Haberkorn.
Ali Woitovich led the Stars, going 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. Kuderna,
Abby Maike and
Katie Fredrick collected one hit apiece, each scoring one run in the loss.
Game Two: Dominican 7, Benedictine 6
Freshman
Katie Uzoras, making just her fourth start of the season, went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, including a two-run single in the top of the seventh that proved to be the game-winning hit, to lead the Stars to a 7-6 win over the Eagles.
It was a bases-loaded single by Uzoras that gave Dominican a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. After the Eagles scored four runs in the bottom of the third, Uzoras cut the lead to 4-2 when she grounded out with Rivera scoring on the play in the top of the fourth.
An inning later, the Stars got a run closer when singled with two outs to score Kuderna and cut the Eagles' lead to 4-3.
Benedictine added to the lead, scoring two runs on Selena Kweder's two-run double in the bottom of the fifth to make it 6-3 Eagles heading through five innings.
After a scoreless sixth, Maike sparked the Stars' four-run rally in the seventh with a leadoff single. After a fielder's choice, Woitovich doubled to put runners at second and third.
Alyssa Domico and
Jacadi Rivera each followed with run scoring singles before
Hannah Gordon worked a walk to load the bases for Uzoras who delivered with a bases-loaded single for the second time in the game, this time scoring Domico and Rivera for the game-tying and go-ahead runs.
For the bottom of the seventh, Dominican turned the game over to
Cat Klostermann who nailed down her second save of the season, pitching around a two-out, infield single to preserve the win.
Anissa Becker picked up the win in the circle, working the fifth and sixth innings while allowing two runs on three hits. For Becker, it was her first win of the season, improving to 1-0 in ten appearances.
Offensively, the Stars pounded out 12 hits in the winning effort. Rivera and Woitovich tallied three hits apiece while Uzoras and Domico each went 2-for-4.
