Pitcher Kendra Bowe struck out six batters and pitched six scoreless innings en route to a 7-0 win over Macalester in game one Thursday afternoon at the South Campus Fields.

Macalester (11-19 overall, 3-9 MIAC) had a runner reach second base on a sacrifice bunt in the top of the second inning. It would be the only Scot runner the Tommie defense would allow to advance past first base for the remainder of the game.

St. Thomas (27-5 overall, 14-0 MIAC) responded by scoring two runs in the bottom of the second inning after back-to-back doubles from right fielder Bianca Peterson and shortstop Jenna Hoffman.

The St. Thomas offense sputtered in the middle innings leaving runners stranded on third base in both the third and fourth innings.

Coach John Tschida said his team struggled to capitalize with runners in scoring position.

“We had a lot of runners on base, but we weren’t getting clutch hits,” Tschida said. “We’d have runners on second and third and (our batters) would play for a big inning instead of a small inning and we’d hit a cheesy pop up or something.”

The Tommies had more than enough defense to make up for their offensive inconsistency. The Macalester batters couldn’t find a solution to Bowe.

Bowe attributed her success comfortability on the mound and finding a rhythm in her pitches.

“Really just feeling it instead of trying to overthrow pitches is the key right now,” Bowe said.

Bowe successfully located her pitches, confusing numerous Macalester batters. The right-hander said she has really focused on improving her offspeed pitches this season.

“Coming in, I would have said (the offspeed pitch) was one of my weaker pitches, so we’ve been going at that and trying to make that a much stronger pitch,” Bowe said. “It’s paying off, I guess.”

The St. Thomas women finally hit their stride offensively in the fifth inning when a shortstop Mary Rentz single to shallow left field allowed catcher Emily Gregory and shortstop McKenzie Wergin to score, putting the Tommies up 4-0.

St. Thomas followed that up in the sixth inning when Wergin singled to left field, allowing second baseman Kimmy Hassel to score. One batter later, center fielder Tisa Phinney hit a fly ball to deep left field, allowing two Tommie baserunners to scamper home. St. Thomas took a 7-0 lead.

Tschida was happy with his teams’ performance at the plate in the latter innings of the game.

“Early on we tried some bunts and had to steal a little bit, but after a while (our hitters) got a rhythm and … I didn’t have to call anything anymore because the players did a nice job,” Tschida said.

In preparation for postseason play next weekend, Tschida wants his team to focus on scoring a few runs an inning consistently, rather than trying to score runs in bunches.

“Normally in playoff ball, you start playing one run at a time,” Tschida said. “We’re not just trying to win this game, we’re trying to be as good as we can get at the end of the year.”

St. Thomas cruises past Macalester in game two

St. Thomas carried its momentum from game one into game two as Hoffman went 3-for-3 at the plate with a home run and four RBI’s, leading the Tommies past Macalester 13-0 in five innings.

After finding their groove offensively near the end of game one, the Tommie batters couldn’t be stopped and exploded for 10 runs in the first three innings.

St. Thomas started the game hot after Hoffman reached base in the first at bat of the game. Hassel and Gregory followed suit with back-to-back doubles, scoring two runs in the first three Tommie at-bats.

“Everyone is being more consistent with their bats,” Hassel said about the team’s offensive performance. “Earlier on, one person had to step up, but now everyone is stepping up, which is nice because you don’t have to rely on one person.”

Hoffman continued her hot day at the plate in the second inning when she doubled into the gap, allowing Peterson and third baseman Brooke Selisker to trot home. Hoffman’s double contributed to a five-run second inning in which four separate batters had RBI’s.

Hoffman attributed her success at the plate to staying relaxed in the batter’s box.

“When you get too tight or too tense up there, you don’t perform well. So, for me, it’s just go up there with confidence,” Hoffman said. “See the ball, hit the ball, and keep it simple.”

The shortstop followed it up in the third inning by hitting a homer to left field, pushing the score to 10-0 after three innings.

“In the second game (our batters) kind of found their rhythm,” Tschida said.

The wide margin prompted Tschida to pull most of his starters in order to play underclassmen for the remainder of the game.

After three scoreless innings of pitching from freshman Morgan Murphy, Tschida brought in freshmen Rebecca Bates and Kelsy Kannegiesser to pitch the final two innings of the game.

The win extends the Tommies’ undefeated streak in the MIAC to 14 and its home win streak to 35. Tschida said he emphasizes improvement throughout the MIAC season.

“Every day we work on specific things. Every player has little tweaks to make,” Tschida said. “We focus on every practice and every minute of every practice. We really try to improve. We don’t put in time, we try to get better with the time we have.”

St. Thomas will play a doubleheader Saturday at St. Ben’s before kicking off the MIAC playoffs in Friday, May 3 in Mankato, Minn.

Jacob Sevening can be reached at seve8586@stthomas.edu.