PELLA, Iowa –
Kate Deming set the second school record of her senior season and sent in – and scored – some key runs for the College of Saint Benedict softball team Friday afternoon, but it wasn't enough as the team fell 7-4 to UW-La Crosse in the first round of the NCAA Regional Tournament in Pella, Iowa.
CSB (27-14) takes on host-school Central at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in an elimination game. The Dutch fell 10-1 in six innings to Lake Forest Friday evening.
Deming headed into Friday's game one hit shy of the school record for hits in a season with 62. She tied the record with a single to left in the third inning, and took over as the school's single-season record holder with an RBI single in the fifth. She now has 64 hits in her four-year career. Earlier this season, she took over as CSB's career hits leader, and is at 230 and counting heading into Saturday.
After going down 4-0 early, Deming's record-breaking hit came at a good time for CSB. The team had gotten one run back in the third on an RBI groundout from
Claire Boatman, but was down 4-1 heading into the fifth.
Alex Smith started the bottom of the fifth with a double, and
Olivia McCabe singled to put runners at first and second. Deming singled up the middle to score a pair of runs, and she advanced to second on an error. She made it to third when Boatman grounded out to the first baseman, and came around to score when the first baseman turned her back on the field to tie the game at 4-4.
The Eagles got on runner on in the sixth while CSB went down in order, but La Crosse came up big in the seventh to seal the first-round win. One runner reached on an error, another walked and an RBI single made it 5-4. CSB got the second out on a fly ball to right, but one walk loaded the bases, and another walk sent in a second run in the inning to put the Eagles up 6-4. An RBI single made it 7-4, and CSB had no answer in the bottom of the inning. McCabe singled – her third hit of the game – and Deming walked, but the Eagles got the final three outs to end the game.
La Crosse jumped on CSB early, scoring two runs with two outs in the first thanks to an error and an RBI single. A two-run single in the second made it 4-0 before CSB got on the board in the third.
McCabe went 3-for-3 to lead Saint Benedict, which had eight total hits. Deming had two hits and Boatman sent in two RBIs – despite not having a hit.
Ally Hjort pitched the first 6.1 innings and took the loss after giving up seven runs – three earned – on nine hits. She struck out four batters.
Grace Gilmore gave up one hit and two walks in the final two-thirds of an inning.
Central (26-9) managed just four hits and gave up 10 runs on 11 hits in its first-round lost to Lake Forest. The loss snapped Central's eight-game winning streak dating back to April 22. CSB beat the Dutch 5-4 in eight innings in 2018 in Arizona.
