Junior pitcher Kendall Hopkins and senior pitcher Kierstin Anderson-Glass led St. Thomas to quickly take down Hamline University with shutouts, winning both games by an eight-run mercy rule on Sunday at South Field.
After falling in a close game to Macalester College Saturday, the Tommies (12-4) came out swinging against the Pipers (3-5) with a fast double in the first game from sophomore outfielder Coryn Jacobson.
“We just try to get better every day,” coach John Tschida said. “I can see them making
adjustments without me saying too much and that’s a sign we are getting better.”
Game 1
Starting early in the first inning, junior third baseman Sarah Hudson reached on a throwing error by Piper’s third baseman senior, April Jacobs, Jacobson took advantage of the error and scored the first run for the Tommies.
Jacobson would help the Tommies in the fifth inning by hitting a line drive into right field for a double earning two RBI’s. In the sixth inning, she would hit another double into right field to walk off the game due to mercy rule earning another two RBI’s.
“Bats came alive today,” Tschida said. “It was fun to watch CJ (Coryn Jacobson), we had a (tweet) saying watch CJ and double day and sure enough she had a double right away.”
‼️It's Gameday‼️ Come watch CJ "Doubles Day" Jacobson and the rest of your Tommies as they take on Hamline in a Sunday DH! 🥎😈
📺https://t.co/jMKcg4KrKG
📊https://t.co/8uniIoX8SN#RollToms | #DoublesDay✌️ pic.twitter.com/O7flI3oc1J— St. Thomas Softball (@USTSoftball) April 11, 2021
Jacobson ended her day with 3-for-4 with three doubles, four RBIs and two runs for the Tommies.
Hopkins earned a quality start and pitched a complete game, six-inning shutout, allowing only three hits, all singles and striking out seven of the 20 batters faced.
“We were ready and wanted to come out strong,” Hopkins said. “It was good for me to know that our offense was hitting well and was happy with how things were behind the plate.”
Game 2
The Tommies came out with two big home runs from senior catcher Bridget Armstrong and junior third baseman Sarah Hudson. Armstrong clenched her first career home run in the fourth inning securing two more runs for the Tommies.
“It felt really good,” Armstrong said. “It was my pitch so I just decided to take a swing and it worked out.”
Hudson flew one over left field in the second inning for a grand slam, giving the Tommies an early 5-0 lead.
“I felt like all the hard work has paid off, but kudos to the whole team for really pushing each other and pushing myself,” Hudson said.
The Tommies proved to be in control throughout the game with 10 hits to one. The Pipers defense struggled to keep the Tommies from scoring with two errors in the outfield.
Anderson-Glass shut out the Pipers following a solid performance by Hopkins in game one.
Ending the series was junior outfielder Annie Naughton who singled the ball on the right-field causing junior infielder Nicole Pieper to score to finish the game 8-0.
The Tommies will face Carleton College for a doubleheader at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in Northfield.
Olivia Paradise can be reached at para4336@stthomas.edu.
Andrés Tejeda contributed to this report.