04/06/06

Senior Laura Heise nearly pitched a perfect game to open the doubleheader as the only Eagle to reach base was via a fourth inning error. In her five innings on the mound -- stopped at that point due to the 8-run rule -- she collected 10 strikeouts without surrendering a walk. The shutout win moves her record to 11-3 on the season, pushes her ERA down to 0.55, moves her growing strikeout total to 144, and was her seventh shutout this year.

Amy Jansen came on in relief of Rilee Dawson in game two and recorded her third win of the season without a loss in the nightcap as the Saints came back from an early 3-run deficit to earn the victory.

The Saints jumped on freshman starter Ashley Hanson of the Eagles from the opening pitch of game one. The first four Saints reached base on a single, walk, single, and walk, with leadoff hitter Kristi Erickson scoring on a passed ball with cleanup hitter Erica Bond at the plate.
With the bases jammed and no outs, senior Kelly Cordie laced a double to the wall in right field that scored two. Joanna Juten's long fly ball to center was dropped and she moved to third on the play as Cordie came around to score and give the Saints a 5-0 lead.
Juten scored to make it 6-0 on junior Katie Brown's ground out to second.
With one out in the second, the Saints started the merry-go-round again, stringing together a Dre Thomas single, Heise single, a Bond double, Cordie's second consecutive double, a Missy Erickson single, and a Juten sacrifice fly to push four more runs across the plate.
Heise didn't need that much help as she overpowered the Eagles all game long. After fanning two in the first inning, she struck out the side in the second. Later, she got the final two outs of the fourth with K's, and the first and last out of the fifth went down swinging.

It was Northwestern's turn to jump out front first in game two as they scored two unearned runs off starter Dawson to open the game, then scored another in the second to grab a 3-0 lead over the Saints.
Finally, in the third the Saints were able to bounce back with six runs in the inning, including two homeruns. Cordie went yard with one on to cut the lead to one, then after the Saints grabbed their first lead of the game, Kristi Erickson put one over the fence with Jody Yurczyk on base.
Dawson surrendered only three runs -- one unearned -- the rest of the way, using an off-speed pitch that kept the Eagles guessing and, mostly, off the base paths.

Heise and Cordie led a parade at the plate for the Saints on the day. Heise finished 5 for 6 with 4 RBI, 5 runs, and 2 HR's. Cordie was nearly as explosive going 4 for 5 with 5 RBI, 3 runs scored, and a HR of her own.
Kristi Erickson's HR was part of her 3 for 5 day at the plate, and Juten collected 3 RBI in a 3 for 6 day.

The 15-3 Saints are riding a six-game win streak, one they'll carry into Monday's home doubleheader against Hamline University.