St. Thomas captured their 12th straight victory against Wisconsin-Stout dating back to 2015 Saturday at South Field, winning by an eight-run mercy rule in both games.
Both teams hit well in the first game totaling 19 hits combined, but St. Thomas (3-1) junior pitcher Kendall Hopkins put an end to that in the second game, holding Wisconsin-Stout (2-4) to only two hits.
Game 1
Sophomore center fielder Coryn Jacobson and junior first baseman Sarah Hudson each had two hits and two RBI’s, leading St. Thomas to a 12-4 five inning win over Wisconsin-Stout.
St. Thomas displayed patience at the plate in the first inning, drawing five walks. Patient no longer in the second inning, first-year designated hitter Maddie Grad launched a ball into the right field corner and scored on a throwing error by the Blue Devils.
“I say get your pitch in your count. You shouldn’t be jumping around at the first pitch and get too anxious, and then they gave us a few walks,” coach John Tschida said.
St. Thomas went down 2-0 in the top of the first inning but rallied back strong taking the lead 7-2 after the second.
Tommie junior pitcher Megan Baniecke allowed three runs on seven hits in four innings, before junior Kendall Hopkins closed out the fifth inning.
Game 2
Hopkins bounced back in a big way from her appearance against St. Olaf March 12, throwing a six inning, complete game shutout leading the Tommies to an 8-0 win over the Blue Devils.
After scoring one run in each of the first three innings, the Tommie offense surged to life in the bottom of the sixth inning, rattling off five runs and ending the game.
“I was able to keep it off the plate and my change-up was working well,” Hopkins said. “The defense played well, I don’t think I had a ton of strikeouts, so it was good to know they were behind me.”
Tschida thinks Hopkins’ poise and craftiness helped her out today.
“Sometimes you want to check to see if she’s alive, you know, she’s pretty calm out there,” Tschida said, chuckling.
The top five hitters in the St. Thomas’ lineup combined for seven of the team’s hits and knocked in all six RBI’s.
The Tommies next matchup is a doubleheader against Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Monday at home.
Joey Swanson can be reached at swan5350@stthomas.edu.