Game Seven Recap
ST. THOMAS ADVANCES WITH WIN OVER SIMPSON
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Down 1-0, the No. 3 University of St. Thomas (Minn.) Tommies came back to take a 4-1 victory over Simpson College (Iowa) in game seven of the 2008 NCAA Division III Softball Regional Championship in Eau Claire this afternoon.
The win is the 27th straight this season for the Tommies, who improve to 42-3 overall. Simpson, ranked 21st in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 poll, falls to 29-11 on the season. The Simpson College Storm will next play at 10 a.m. Saturday against Aurora University, while St. Thomas will face the winner of the Eau Claire-Oshkosh game Saturday at 2 p.m.
Simpson got on the board first after St. Thomas committed two errors. Amanda Armstrong picked up an RBI on a single to center field while Carlye Owens scored an unearned run in the opening inning.
St. Thomas then got back into the game in the third on a Morgan Betker two-run homer, scoring Maria Bye. The home run was Betker’s eighth of the season. Missy Brueggeman and Alison Wright also scored runs for the Tommies in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively.
Maria Bye pitched the entire game for the Tommies, allowing three hits and picking up two strikeouts against 20 batters. She improved her season mark to 21-0. Simpson’s Calie Hohneke was in the game for six innings and struck out one batter. She gave up five hits and three runs as she faced 23 batters. The loss dropped her season record to 15-6. Whitney Oviatt also pitched one inning for the Storm.
