MERION STATION, Pa. - Saint Joseph's softball team rallied in its final at-bat versus Saint Louis on Sunday, giving itself a chance to potentially win with a single. Unfortunately for the Hawks, the Billikens got the crucial final out in the 6-5 contest played at the SJU Softball Field.
Down 6-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh, Saint Joseph's got its first two batters on as Erica Nugent led off with a double and moved to third on a single by Nikki Alden.
A sacrifice fly by Kerrie Kortmann plated Nugent to bring SJU to within one, 6-5. Following a fielder's choice that saw Alden called out at second, third baseman Brandi Harkness singled to center field and advanced to second, while lead runner Nicole Palase made it to third.
With an opportunity to tie, or potentially win with a single, Saint Joseph's got a sharp hit ball off the bat of Sarah Yoos, only to have the Saint Louis first baseman make a play on it for the final out.
Saint Louis (31-17, 15-5 Atlantic 10) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second on a pair of two-run home runs to right field againsy SJU starter Nikki Alden.
The Hawks (21-18, 6-11 A-10) got a run back in the bottom of the fourth as Palase tripled and came around to score on a RBI ground out by Harkness.
Harkness and Alden would score on a RBI double by Yoos in the bottom of the sixth to cut the SLU lead to 4-3. In the next at-bat, Yoos came around to tie the game as the Saint Louis shortstop misplayed the ball hit by Madeline Brunck.
Saint Louis answered though with two outs in the top of the seventh as a line drive up the middle glanced off the glove of Yoos and into center field, allowing two runs to score and give the visitors a two-run edge.
For the game, Harkness and Alden were both 2-for-4 a run scored each, while Yoos had a tweam-best two RBIs.
In the circle, Anna Lauterbach was the hard-luck loser, allowing just two runs over 5.1 innings of relief. Alden, who started the game, went 1.2 innings and gave up four runs on four hits.
Saint Joseph's returns to action Tuesday at Drexel at 3:30 p.m.
