Sophomore center fielder Avery Wukawitz’s grand slam sparked a 10-3 victory for St. Thomas softball against North Dakota Sunday afternoon.
St. Thomas (11-31, 5-7 Summit) and North Dakota (8-36, 2-7 Summit) matched up for the third and last time on Sunday, April 14. The Tommies came out on top defeating the Fighting Hawks in the first and last games of the weekend series. St. Thomas now sits third in the Summit League with two in-conference series left in the season. North Dakota bottoms the standings with a league-worst, two conference wins.
“Our hitters made … a good adjustment and just making sure that we aren’t trying to be so desperate to get ahead that we get ourselves out and letting the game come to us,” coach Jennifer Trotter said.
The Tommies entered the bottom frame of the sixth down a run after only being able to score two runs in three hits.
The eight-run, monster inning started with junior shortstop Laken Lienhard smacking a double that split the left-center gap, followed by a walk from sophomore Morgan Klein.
Sophomore Ruby Moore then pinch-run for Klein. The Tommies then settled for a bunt that allowed both runners to advance to scoring position. Sophomore first baseman Abbi Stierlen stepped into the box, grounding out while also pushing a run across, tying the score 3-3.
Senior catcher Maddie Grad continued the inning with an RBI single, giving a 4-3 lead to St. Thomas they would not relinquish.
After a walk by senior second baseman Sydney Mickett to load the bases, Wukawitz smashed a homer over the left field wall, batting in a total of 4 runs and extending the lead to 8-4.
Wukawitz finished the day with two hits, and four runs batted in, while also stealing home in the fifth inning. The sophomore center fielder now has a total of five home runs and 14 runs driven in.
“We were frustrated most of the time because we knew what we needed to do and we were just having a hard time executing … It was just a matter of time before we started putting some things together … We were able to get some really key walks in some big moments,” Trotter said.
St. Thomas added two more runs in the sixth inning to eclipse double digits.
Tommies’ pitcher junior Christina Crawford completed all seven innings, racking up her tenth complete game of the season. Crawford also added two strikeouts, while only allowing three earned runs.
The pitcher sports a 5.28 ERA, with 59 strikeouts in just under 112 innings pitched after Sunday’s game.
“Christina (Crawford) is a dog, she hasn’t been at 100% the last few weeks … Even in times, and she might not have felt as good as she possibly could do, she did enough of what she’s capable of to help us win the ballgame,” Trotter said.
The Fighting Hawks started the morning with a 3-1 advantage that was kickstarted by a triple to the right field corner by senior left fielder Izzy Haslett, followed by an RBI single for junior second baseman Angie Dumlao.
The game ended with a defensive gem by Avery Wukawitz. On a deep fly ball to center, Wukawitz stretched her glove to make the catch inches away from the fence, robbing an extra-base hit, and crashing into the railing.
St. Thomas will host a three-game series against the University of South Dakota at 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 20, before traveling to face Iowa State at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23, in Ames, Iowa.
Juan Del Valle can be reached at delv9625@stthomas.edu.