Season ends at CCAC Tournament
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
|
Roosevelt | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 2 |
|
Indiana South Bend | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | X | 7 | 14 | 1 |
St. Ambrose fought until the end but saw its season end Thursday at the CCAC Tournament in Crown Point, Ind. The Bees fell to Roosevelt 4-3 before losing an elimination game to Indiana South Bend 7-5.
SAU played from behind in both games. St. Ambrose spotted Roosevelt a four-run lead in the first inning in the team's tournament opener.
And the Bee offense struggled early. The first 12 Bees were retired in order before Kayla Stenger became the first base runner when she singled to lead off the fifth. She was promptly erased on a double-play ball.
But in the seventh, St. Ambrose came to life. Cassie Sprout led off with a single before Alyssa Schumacher was hit by a pitch. Schumacher was forced out on a Stenger ground ball, but Sprout scored on the play. Erica Ralfs tripled to bring in pinch runner Liz Garcia to cut the deficit to 4-2. Paige Kirkman made it a one-run game with a sacrifice fly to right, allowing Ralfs to score. But the comeback ended there.
Ralfs, who settled down after the first inning, was charged with the loss. She allowed just four hits over her final five scoreless frames.
A similar story played out in the second game as Indiana South Bend grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Schumacher's run-scoring double cut the deficit in half in the third. After the Titans pushed across a run in the bottom of the fourth, the Bees tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth. Ralfs lifted a sacrifice fly to center before Mackenzie Stiewe singled up the middle to score Kirkman to knot the score.
IUSB responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. SAU got one back when Schumacher's ground out scored Maria Provenzano in the sixth, but the Titans immediately regained a three-run lead with a run in the bottom of the inning.
St. Ambrose again made things interesting in its final at bat. Ralfs walked and Stiewe doubled with one out to start the rally. Allison Polly's fly to center allowed Ralfs to score to bring the Bees to within 7-5. Provenzano drew a walk to put the potential tying runs on base, but Shai Erdrich grounded out to end the game.
Schumacher and Stiewe each collected three of SAU's 11 total hits.
Kayla Roemer pitched the first inning before Emilee Erickson tossed the final five frames.
St. Ambrose finished the year with a 25-25 record.