Griffins, Gorloks Into Winners Bracket
Top-seeded Fontbonne University and #2 seed Webster University picked up wins on the opening day of the semifinals in the 2021 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Softball Tournament. The two teams will meet tomorrow afternoon in the second game of the day while Iowa Wesleyan and Spalding will start the day at 10:30 a.m.
Tomorrow will feature a possibility of five games as the championship round has been moved from Saturday due to forecasted rain. Games tomorrow are scheduled for 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 4:30 p.m., with the if necessary game set for 6:30 p.m. You can watch the rest of the 2021 SLIAC Softball Tournament with College Casts. Go to the SLIAC Softball Tournament page for video links to stream the games HERE
| Semifinals - #1 Fontbonne def. #5 Iowa Wesleyan, 2-1 BOX SCORE |
| It took six innings but Fontbonne and Iowa Wesleyan finally find home plate in an exciting 7th inning. Neither team scored for the first six innings as Morgan Christner and Abby Richmond dualed each other and kept their opposing lineup under control. Fontbonne threatened in the bottom of the 6th with back-to-back one out singles from Grace Paez and Hannah Miener. A single from Grace Harlin gave the Griffins a chance to get on the board but a perfect throw from Kayla Ford preceded a perfect tag from teammate Taylor Johnson that beat the runner trying to score from second, ending the inning. The Tigers took that momentum into the top of the 7th, starting with Johnson's single to start the frame. Three batters later Ivy Geerdes pounced on the opportunity for the Tigers, racing to cross home plate on a wild pitch for the first run of the game. Richmond stranded one Tiger on base after getting a ground ball and pop up to end the inning. Back-to-back errors by the Tigers set up the Griffins in the bottom half, and a single from Lexi Becker loaded the bases with one out. After a line drive out, it was Paez that singled to left, plating two runs and giving the Griffins the walk-off win. Richmond went 7 innings, allowing six hits while getting the win. Christner worked 6 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and striking out four. |
| Semifinals - #2 Webster def. #3 Spalding, 6-1 BOX SCORE |
| The long ball propelled #2 seed Webster to a 6-1 win over #3 Spalding, sending the Gorloks into the winner's bracket portion of the tournament. Spalding struck first, taking advantage of an error in the 3rd inning. A one-out walk by Brooke Smith set the scoring up. She promptly swiped second and then moved to third on a single by Jennifer Peffley. Smith would score on the next play when a fly ball to shallow centerfield bounced off a Gorloks glove. The Spalding lead did not last long as the Gorloks answered back with two runs in the bottom half of the frame. Breelyn Craig started the inning with a double and was followed by a walk to Taylor Jackson. Another walk loaded the bases and a two-out single by Jaelin Holdaway would drive in two, giving the Gorloks the lead. Webster added to the scoring the next inning on a Sheyla Iniguez sacrifice fly. Webster busted the game open with home runs in both the 5th inning (Jackson) and 6th inning (Craig); giving the Gorloks runs in four straight innings. Kirbie Mendenhall picked up the win for Webster, going 6 innings and allowing just three hits. Webster recorded nine hits as a team with Craig leading the way with three base knocks and Jackson and Holdaway each picking up a pair of hits. |
