NAPERVILLE, Ill. – With the help of catcher Emily Gregory’s two hits and two RBIs, the St. Thomas softball team grinded out a 7-6 win in nine innings against North Central College in the first game of a best-of-three series Saturday before losing the second game 12-2.

With the teams splitting the first two games on Saturday, the series will go to a decisive third game on Sunday with the winner advancing to the College World Series in Tyler, Texas, next week. The two teams met once this season during St. Thomas’ spring break trip to Clermont, Florida, where North Central defeated St. Thomas 4-3.

“You can’t be cocky. We had to be confident, but we had to give respect to their team because they did beat us in the preseason,” left fielder Brooke Selisker said. “We took care of business in the first game, not playing our best softball, but we got a win. And then the second game, we came in and things kind of got out of hand.”

The Tommies clawed their way to an extra-inning victory in the first game of the series after blowing the lead twice. After the Tommies built a four-run lead after four innings, the Cardinals came storming back with a four-run fifth inning to tie the game. St. Thomas added two runs in the fifth inning to take the lead for a second time, but North Central scored two runs of its own in the seventh inning to send the game to extra frames.

“It’s frustrating, but it’s the same thing. It’s a new inning. You look at the score and say, ‘OK, new inning’ until you finally are on top … and I think we executed that well in the first game,” Selisker said.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Selisker, first baseman Erin Mussett and third baseman Mary Rentz all got on base for the Tommies to load the bases with nobody out. Two batters later, second baseman Megan DuPuis sent an RBI single to right field to end the game.

“Both teams’ pitchers didn’t execute as well as both coaches would like, so its a matter of a slugfest. Who’s going to win a slugfest and minimize the damage? That’s the key, is minimizing the damage in (an offensive game),” coach John Tschida said.

However, in the second game of the day, the Tommies’ fortune changed drastically.

After RBIs from Gregory and designated hitter Brenna Walek gave St. Thomas a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, it was all North Central from there. Pitcher Annie Boyer retired the first six North Central batters, but the Cardinals manufactured two runs in the third inning to tie the game. The Cardinals then broke the game wide open in the fourth inning, scoring 10-runs on eight hits to put the game well out of reach early.

“You have to minimize your damage, so it’s about executing, really. So our pitchers did a poor job of executing,” Tschida said. “There were a lot of pitches way over the middle of the plate, and when we give them that, they took advantage and really executed their swings.”

With a 12-2 lead, North Central retired the first three St. Thomas batters in the fifth inning to end the game on the NCAA’s eight-run rule.

While St. Thomas’ pitching failures were most noticeable in the second game, Tschida said he was not happy with his team’s pitching performance in both games Saturday.

“They didn’t really have to work too hard to get their hits because we threw it right over the plate, but at the same time, that’s what you’re supposed to do (as a hitter). Make the pitcher miss their spot and don’t swing at their pitches, and that’s what they did a better job of today,” Tschida said.

Pitcher Kendra Bowe, who pitched just one and two-thirds innings in the first game, said she was confident the St. Thomas pitching staff would be able to rebound for Sunday’s deciding game.

“We’ve put in countless hours, and there’s a reason why we’re here. There’s five of us, and we’re going to get the job done, it’s just a matter of us not letting the past affect us,” Bowe said. “When you’re at regionals, or super regionals or the World Series, girls can hit … so it’s about not letting that faze you and realizing that I have to get a ball that my defense can handle.”

Despite a disappointing loss in Saturday’s second game, Tschida said a split was really a pretty fortunate result for St. Thomas given its level of play in both of Saturday’s games.

“In a way, we look back, and we say we played pretty bad defensively, pitching was the worst I’ve seen (from this team), offensively we were pretty average or below average, and we still come out with a split. So you have to be pretty happy with that, actually,” Tschida said.

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