[slidepress gallery=’softballroundtwo’]

The women’s softball team took a throttling from Linfield College to the tune of 9-1 Saturday at the regional tournament in Indianola, Iowa.

The loss forces St. Thomas to win three straight games Sunday and Monday to win the regional and advance in the national tournament. The Tommies will have a rematch with Illinois-Wesleyan Sunday at 11 a.m., who it defeated 3-2 Friday.

Senior Alison Wrights’ base hit in the fourth inning was the sole run scored for a Tommie team that managed just three hits. St. Thomas and Linfield were tied 1-1 after the fourth, but Linfield posted three runs in the fifth inning and four in the final inning to pull away.

First baseman Staci Doucette led Linfield with three hits, four RBIs and two runs scored. Jaydee Baxter also went two-for-three with two RBIs.

Senior Marta Radcliffe took her first loss in 19 games, giving up seven earned runs in just over six innings pitched. St. Thomas’ 19 game winning streak was snapped as well.

Jordan Osterman can be reached at jrosterman@stthomas.edu