AMHERST, Mass. – Saint Louis kept its hold on second place in the Atlantic 10 Conference with a 5-0, 7-3 (eight innings) doubleheader sweep over Massachusetts Saturday afternoon at Sortino Field.
With one regular-season game remaining – at UMass Sunday at 11 a.m. (CT) – the Billikens (35-16, 17-5 A-10) own a 1/2-game lead over third-place Fordham (16-5 A-10). Dayton (19-2) wrapped up the regular-season title at La Salle Saturday, but a Saint Louis victory Sunday would clinch the runner-up spot and a first-round bye in next week's A-10 Championship.
In game two, the Billikens trailed 3-1 after three innings but forced extra innings with single runs in the fifth and sixth before scoring four times in the extra frame.
Alyssa Tarquinio led off the eighth with a single, and pinch runner Miranda Cotton advanced on Hailey Weavers' sacrifice. Following a walk to Emma Buckles, Josie Knesel doubled to score Cotton and move Buckles to third.
Alex Nickel then delivered a two-run double to make it 6-3. With two outs, Elizabeth Everingham notched SLU's third two-bagger of the inning to chase home Nickel with the final run.
The Bills struck first, plating a first-inning run on consecutive one-out singles by Lindsay Friedman, Everingham and Allie Macfarlane. The RBI was Macfarlane's 48th of the season, adding to her school record.
UMass (15-27, 8-13 A-10) tied it in the bottom of the first, took a 2-1 lead in the second and made it 3-1 with a leadoff home run in the third. Two consecutive singles followed the long ball, but Laney Kneib came on in relief and stranded both runners.
Knesel popped her second home run of the year leading off the fifth to cut SLU's deficit in half, and the Billikens pulled even with an unearned run in the sixth. Weavers registered a one-out single, and pinch runner Brittany Durant moved to second on Buckles' single. With two away, Durant scored the tying run when the UMass second baseman mishandled Nickel's ground ball.
Kneib (7-1) pitched around a one-out error in the bottom of the seventh, setting the stage for SLU's big eighth inning. She struck out three, did not walk a batter and surrendered just three hits in six scoreless innings.
Macfarlane and Tarquinio added a single apiece to join Everingham and Knesel in the two-hit column.
In the opener, Saint Louis tallied the only run it would need in the second inning. The Bills loaded the bases with nobody out on singles by Weavers, Buckles and Knesel. Following a force out at home, Friedman was hit by a pitch to score Buckles.
The Billikens made it 2-0 in the third. Macfarlane drew a leadoff walk and was forced at second on Brianna Lore's ground ball. Lore advanced on Tarquinio's groundout and, following a walk to Weavers, scored on Buckles' single.
SLU doubled its lead in the fifth. Singles by Macfarlane and Lore and a one-out walk to Weavers loaded the bases. Back-to-back RBI singles off the bats of Buckles and Knesel scored pinch runners Cotton and Durant, respectively, and it was 4-0 Billikens.
Saint Louis tacked on a run in the seventh. Nickel walked with one out and stole second with two away. Following a walk to Everingham, Nickel scored when the second baseman couldn't come up with Macfarlane's ground ball.
Lore (18-9), who broke
Lorena Floccari's (2005-08) school record by making her 101st career start in the circle, chalked up her third shutout of the season and had two hits at the plate. She struck out two, allowed seven hits and did not issue a walk for a third consecutive game. Lore has walked just two over her last eight outings (47 2/3 innings).
