GAME RESULTS
Game 1 – Saint Louis 5, Massachusetts 3
Game 2 – Saint Louis 7, Loyola Chicago 6
A-10 Championship Elimination Rounds
Friday, May 10, 2024
Bronx, N.Y.
 
THE BASICS
Saint Louis softball will play for its first Atlantic 10 Conference tournament title after winning two elimination games Friday, 5-3 over Massachusetts and 7-6 over Loyola Chicago, on day three of the A-10 Championship at Fordham's Bahoshy Field.
 
The No. 2 seed Billikens improved to 31-21; their 31 victories are the second most in program history. They will face No. 1 seed Dayton in Saturday's championship round at 11 a.m. Central; SLU needs to defeat the Flyers twice to claim the title and the automatic NCAA Championship bid that comes with it. If a second game is necessary, it will begin approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first game.
 
Saint Louis is in the A-10 Championship final for a third time. The Billikens finished second in 2007 and 2014.
 
GAME 1 – HOW IT HAPPENED
•SLU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Cami Newbanks led off with a single, moved to second on a Chloe Rhine sacrifice, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Abby Mallo's sacrifice fly.
•The Billikens made it 5-0 with a four-run third inning. Natalie Sullivan drew a two-out walk, stole second and scored on Jane Kaniecki's single. Kelsey Etling followed with a single, and Kaniecki scored on a throwing error by the UMass right fielder. After Newbanks walked, Rhine delivered a two-run double.
•UMass scored twice in the sixth and once in the seventh, but Isabel Royle stranded three runners in the sixth and two in the seventh to lock down the win.
 
GAME 1 – BILLIKEN NOTABLES
•Royle improved to 14-6. She struck out six and allowed just one earned run, seven hits and two walks.
•Etling and Kaniecki added a double and a single, respectively, for two-hit games.
 
GAME 2 – HOW IT HAPPENED
•The Bills grabbed a 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the first. Leadoff batter Abby Ulsas walked and went to second on Sullivan's bunt single, and both runners advanced on Kaniecki's groundout. Ulsas scored on Etling's groundout.
•Saint Louis made it 2-0 in the third as Sullivan singled and scored on Kaniecki's double.
•Loyola Chicago pulled even in the fourth and went on top 5-2 with a three-run fifth.
•SLU regained the lead in its half of the fifth, answering with four runs. Kendall Johnson drew a leadoff walk, and pinch-runner Karsen Jany scooted to second on a single by Ulsas. With one out, Kaniecki smacked an RBI single that plated Jany, and with two away, Newbanks cranked her eighth home run of the season, a three-run blast that put the Billikens in front 6-5.
•Loyola loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but Royle came on for starter Taylor Hochman and recorded the final out.
•The Billikens scored what proved to be an important insurance tally in the bottom of the frame. After two were out, Ulsas walked, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Sullivan's double to make it 7-5.
•The Ramblers again loaded the bases in the seventh, this time with nobody out. Royle fanned the next two batters, issued a walk that narrowed the SLU lead to 7-6, and notched the final out on a ground ball.
 
GAME 2 – BILLIKEN NOTABLES
•Hochman struck out six and allowed just two earned runs in her 5 2/3 innings of work. She improved to 15-10.
•Royle collected her first collegiate save. The run she allowed was unearned.