Friday, May 2, 2014
RICHLAND, Wash. - Talk about winning in walk-off fashion.
Defending champion Saint Martin's, on the brink of elimination, hit three home runs in the bottom of the seventh to rally from a 3-0 deficit and stun second-seed Western Washington 4-3 in an elimination game of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference softball championships Friday at Columbia Playfield.
Dani Wall, Mary Dettling and Jackie Schmaeling all homered in the frame as fourth-seed Saint Martin's (27-21) stayed alive in the double-elimination tournament.
SMU will face Central Washington tonight at 7 p.m. in another elimination game. The winner will play top-seed Western Oregon Saturday at noon in the championship game. If WOU loses that game, another game will be played immediately afterward.
Western Washington scored three runs in the sixth inning, two on a home run by Jordan Walley, to take a 3-0 lead into the seventh. The Vikings got plenty of help in the frame as the Saints committed three errors leading to three unearned runs off SMU pitcher Sam Munger.
First baseman Alexie Levin drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly. Designated hitter Jordan Walley followed with a two-run blast to left to give Viking pitcher Jenna DeRosier a 3-0 lead.
But, the Saints pulled to within one run on a two-run blast by Wall after center fielder Taviah Jenkins led off the bottom of the seventh with a single.
Jenkins hit came after she had turned in her third outstanding defensive play of the tournament in the top of the frame, racing in on a sinking line drive and snaring it on a dive to prevent the leadoff hitter from reaching base.
Wall's blast brought Shayna Adelstein out of the bullpen. Adelstein (5-6) struck out designated hitter Christina Demar before Dettling and Schmaeling, SMU's No. 7 and No. 8 hitters, went back-to-back to end the game.
That made a winner out of Munger, who earned her 20th win against 15 losses. Munger allowed just five hits. She walked one and struck out one.
DeRosier allowed five hits in six plus innings. She didn't walk or strike out out a batter.
The loss dropped the Vikings to 30-14 on the season. They were ranked eighth in this week's NCAA Division II West Regional poll and will wait until Monday morning at 7 a.m. to see if they receive one of the five at-large berths to the West Regional tournament. The tournament field will be revealed with a webcast on ncaa.com.