05/06/07

Presentation College may have been riding a high after beating back No. 2 seed Northland College to stave off elimination for the second game in a row, but it was the top-seeded Saints from St. Scholastica that rode home with a 6-0 victory in the championship game against third-seeded Presentation to capture their sixth consecutive and 11th UMAC postseason tournament title.

Presentation had their early chances in the championship game against the Saints but twice in the first three innings had a runner gunned down at the plate.

Up to that point, Presentation starter Kimberly Bourdon hadn’t been threatened by the St. Scholastica bats, but a lead-off bunt single by Brenna Zavodnik sparked a two run St. Scholastica rally in the bottom of the fourth for the first runs of the game.

Still behind only two, Bourdon surrendered a lead-off hit again in the fifth, this one to Michaela Carlson who singled to left-centerfield. A Chelsey Weiss single and a walk by Erica Kozacek then loaded the bases for 2007 UMAC Player of the Year, Rilee Dawson.

Dawson sent a towering shot over the left-centerfield fence for a grand slam homerun that gave the Saints a 6-0 lead and a lot of breathing room.

Coach Walter’s plan entering the game had been for St. Scholastica starter Amy Jansen to pitch the first four or five innings then have Dawson come in for the final two or three and close the door. So as the fifth inning began, Dawson stepped into the pitcher’s circle, fresh off her grand slam in the fourth.

Nine batters, eight strikeouts and nine outs later, Dawson, Jansen, and St. Scholastica (25-16) began celebrating another UMAC championship.

Jansen (8-8) pitched four scoreless innings without a walk and struck out five while allowing only six hits to earn the win for St. Scholastica. Dawson picked up the save.

Kimberly Bourdon (7-10), pitching her fourth game of the two day tournament for Presentation (14-22), took the loss giving up six runs on eight hits with one walk and four strikeouts over six innings.

Dawson was 3-for-3 with five RBI at the plate for the Saints. Her final at bat in a St. Scholastica uniform will have been the grand slam homerun in her fourth championship game victory in four years.