Sophia Delgado had a two-run single and Olivia McClintock immediately followed with a two-run double in the sixth inning to help St. Ambrose get past Wis.-Platteville 8-7 in the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday at. the St. Vincent Athletic Complex. The rally allowed the Bees to get the sweep following their 5-2 win in the opener.
Trailing 6-4 entering the bottom of the sixth, the Bees began their comeback. Maria Provenzano got things started with a one-out single to center. Aleah Wight drew a walk and Grace Schmitz followed with a single up the middle to load the bases. Delgado tied the game with her single to left before McClintock put SAU in front for good with her double into the left-center field gap.
UW-Platteville (8-10) made things interesting in the top of the seventh. After getting the first two outs, St. Ambrose ran into some trouble. A single and run-scoring double cut the deficit to 8-7 and put the potential tying run in scoring position. Another hit put runners on the corners, but Alyia Oliver escaped the jam by inducing a groundout to short.
Oliver got the final out in a game she started and worked the first five innings. She surrendered five runs before giving way to Provenzano, who earned the win with 1 2/3 innings of relief work.
Provenzano also helped the Bees to a quick 4-0 lead. After Kayla Stenger's two-run double in the first inning, Provenzano singled to plate Stenger. In the second, Cassie Sprout's RBI single brought in Kylee Sweenie to up the lead to 4-0. The Pioneers battled back with two runs in the third and took the lead with a three-run fifth before tacking on another run in the sixth, leading to the Bees' late rally.
McClintock and Provenzano each had two of SAU's nine hits in the nightcap.
Behind Erica Ralfs, the first game wasn't nearly as dramatic. Ralfs went the distance, allowing just two runs while striking out seven.
She was also staked to an early lead as Alyssa Schumacher's double to right in the bottom of the first scored both Wight and Stenger for a 2-0 lead. Wight also drove in a pair, first with a sacrifice fly to score Shai Erdrich for a 3-0 lead in the third, and later with an RBI groundout to again plate Erdrich for a 4-1 lead in the fifth.
Kaylee King ended the St. Ambrose scoring with a home run off the scoreboard in left field in the sixth. It was one of two hits in the game for King. Schumacher finished 3-for-3, while McClintock and Erdrich joined King with two-hit games.
The Bees, now 18-3 overall, return to CCAC action Friday with a doubleheader at Trinity Christian.
