AURORA, IL - The Benedictine University softball team swept Aurora on the road to win the NACC South Division Tournament in a pair of very different contests.
FINAL SCORES
Benedictine 1, Aurora 0
Benedictine 15, Aurora 10
THE DETAILS - GM 1
- Benedictine scored the only run of the first game in the top of the first
- Taylor Skraba was hit by a pitch to open the game and was sacrificed to second by
Megan Fast
- With two outs
Alyssa Gill notched a single to left to knock home Skraba with the only run of the game
- Alexandra Loizon did the rest in the circle, allowing just four hits in the shutout
- Aurora left the tying runs on base in the first, second and third
STAT LEADERS - GM 1
- Benedictine notched just two hits in forcing the winner-take-all contest
- Ashley Fisher recorded the other hit
- Skraba did not record an official at bat, walking twice in addition to being hit by a pitch
- Loizon allowed just four hits and did not walk a batter while striking out two
THE DETAILS - GM 2
- Aurora played as the visiting team in the second contest after a cointoss pregame determined the home team and scored a run in the top of the first to take the early lead
- Benedictine was able to tie the contest in the bottom of the frame
- Skraba was again hit by a pitch to open the contest and moved to third when Fast singled
- Fisher evened the score with a single to left but Benedictine stranded runners at second and third
- Aurora threatened in the second and grabbed a 3-1 lead with a two-out two-run single in the third
- Skraba provided an immediate answer in her first official at bat of the day, drilling her 20th homer of the season over the wall in left-center to begin the third
- The homer allowed Skraba to build upon her school and conference record as well as keep pace with the national leaders
- Aurora had an immediate answer, scoring five runs in the top of the fourth to open an 8-2 edge
- Benedictine put forth one of their best innings of the season in the bottom of the fourth, scoring eight runs to open a 10-8 edge
- Faith Chada recorded a bases loaded single to knock home the first run and Skraba followed with a two-run single to make the score 8-5
- With the bases loaded again, Gill doubled home two to bring Benedictine within a run
- Colleen Schmit followed with a three-run homer to put Benedictine ahead
- The back-and-forth continued though as Aurora scored twice in the fifth with two outs to tie the game again at 10-10
- Benedictine plated five runs with two outs in the sixth to grab the win
- Chada singled home the go-ahead tally and Skraba followed by drawing a bases loaded walk
- Fast cleared the bases with a three-run double to account for the final
- Benedictine beat Aurora four times this season
STAT LEADERS - GM 2
- Benedictine tallied 15 hits in the second game after managing just one in the opener
- Skraba and Fast both recorded three hits from the top two slots in the order
- Skraba scored four runs and drove home four while Fast knocked in three along with Schmit
- Loizon worked three innings in relief to grab the win
UP NEXT
Benedictine (33-12) will face either MSOE or Concordia Wisconsin in a best-of-three next weekend to determine the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. At least one of the games will be played at Benedictine.
