04/13/07

The Saints began defense of their 2006 regular season UMAC title with a 9-5 win over Northwestern College on Friday afternoon in St. Paul.

St. Scholastica (7-10, 1-0 UMAC) put up runs in each of the first three innings before Northwestern (6-14, 0-1) would cut into the lead in the bottom of the third.

A run in both the fourth and seventh innings along with a trio of runs in the sixth kept the Saints out front in game one of a doubleheader with the Eagles.

The top of the order provided the spark for the Saints as 1-2 hitters Chelsey Weiss and Brenna Zavodnik scored two runs apiece. Weiss had three stolen bases in the win and Zavodnik reached base in three of her five at-bats.

Deep in the order, Katie Brown scored three times despite only reaching base once via a hit. A catcher's interference call in the second and a walk in the third put her at first base twice and she came around to score both times. Her lead-off double in the seventh eventually led to the Saints' final run of the game as she came around to score on Kristin Swartz' single to center field.

Erica Kozacek joined Zavodnik as the only Saints hitter to enjoy a multi-hit game. Kozacek finished 2-for-4 with a single and double, and improved her team-leading batting average to a .400 mark for the season.

Amy Jansen picked up the win for the Saints on the mound pitching seven innings while allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits, a pair of walks and five strikeouts.