GILBERT, AZ. – The University of Saint Mary softball earned two wins on Monday in the Arizona tournament. They defeated Benedictine University at Mesa 12-3, and then a walk off by Victoria Gutierrez gave them an 11-10 win over Park University.
The Spires are now 4-14 overall.
GAME 1
After a slow start offensively, Saint Mary got hot in the third inning. Hazel Faz sparked the run with a homerun over the left field fence on a 1-1 count. Two more runs would come in on a single up the middle by Gutierrez. A single by Carlyee Arndt brought in Alexis Solis and Gutierrez, and then a single by Maria Howard scored another run to put the Spires up 6-0. Benedictine University at Mesa responded with one run in the bottom half of the inning, but Saint Mary kept on rolling. With two runners on, Arndt stepped up to the plate and crushed one over the right field fence for a three-run homerun. The Spires brought in two more runs and led 12-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, and held on defensively to win with a run rule.
GAME 2
Park scored the first two runs of the game, but Saint Mary would respond in the bottom half of the first inning. Faz hit a shot to deep left-center field, then a sacrifice bunt by Hailey Reece put them in scoring position. A hit by Gutierrez made it a 2-1 ballgame. After holding the Pirates scoreless in the second inning, the Spires turned on the gas and put up four runs on four hits to go up 5-2. Park would regain the lead in the fourth inning, but Saint Mary did not fold and a single to center field by Arndt brought in two runs to tie things up 10-10 heading into the final inning of the game. Defensively, the Spires held the Pirates scoreless despite them having a runner on third with only one out before the next two batters were retired. In the bottom of the seventh with two outs, Gutierrez smashed the ball to center field to score the winning run with a walk off.
INSIDE THE STATS
-Faz went 8-for-9 at the plate.
-Arndt went 6-for-7 at the plate and led the team with seven RBI's.
-Arndt and Faz each had a homerun.
-Howard had seven strikeouts.
-As a team, the Spires had 28 hits on the day.
UP NEXT
The Spires return to action tomorrow at the Cactus Yards Sports Complex against Ottawa University – Arizona and then Waldorf University. The game against OU-Arizona is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. followed by a contest with Waldorf at 1 p.m.
