Missed opportunities cost SAU in loss to No. 8 CMU
| Final (8) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose (IA) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 2 |
|
#8 Central Methodist (MO) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Texas A&M-San Antonio | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 1 |
|
St. Ambrose (IA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
Missed opportunities haunted St. Ambrose in a 7-6 eight-inning loss to No. 8 Central Methodist in SAU's first game at the Gulf Shores Invitational in Gulf Shores, Ala., Friday.
SAU fell to Texas A&M-San Antonio 10-2 in six innings later in the day.
The Bees held leads of 4-0, 5-2 and 6-5 but couldn't hold on against the nationally-ranked Eagles.
The team finished with 16 hits, but stranded 13 runners, which included leaving the bases loaded in the first, fourth and fifth innings. The team also had three runners thrown out at the plate, with two of those coming in the fourth.
St. Ambrose (8-6) got off to a fast start with Becca Haag's single in the first bringing in both Shai Erdrich and Reagan Engberg.
The Bees doubled their lead in the fourth. Mya Millsaps had an RBI single to bring in Kaitlyn Haag before Becca Haag walked with the bases loaded to score Erdrich for a 4-0 lead.
Central Methodist scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings before Kylee Claypool's triple in the sixth brought in Becca Haag for a 5-2 lead.
But the Eagles came up with two runs in the sixth and one more in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings.
Becca Haag's third hit accounted for her fourth RBI as her bunt single drove in Engberg to give SAU a short-lived 6-5 lead in the eighth. That was because Central Methodist took advantage of a Bee error to push across a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the frame for the walk-off win.
Erdrich matched Becca Haag with three hits. Claypool, Millsaps, Brynnlin Kroymann and Kylie Schult each collected two hits.
Leah Maro took the loss. She went 7 2/3 innings and allowed just four earned runs while also striking out five. Bianca Shorter also pitched in relief.
The Bees then immediately turned around and watched Texas A&M-San Antonio build a 5-1 lead after three innings.
Becca Haag's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first accounted for the early Bee run.
The Jaguars added two runs in the fifth and broke things open with a three-run sixth. Laurel Politsch reached on an error to bring in Alena Holder for the final SAU run in the bottom of the sixth.
Holder, Anna Engberg, Schult and Maddi Larsen had the St. Ambrose hits.
Shorter was charged with the loss. Shea Meech worked the final 3 2/3 innings.
The Bees will play Brenau and No. 10 Southeastern Saturday.