SAINT MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind.  — The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College softball team earned a doubleheader split inside River States Conference play against visiting West Virginia Tech on Saturday afternoon (March 22) at the SMWC Softball Complex. SMWC won the first game by the score of 12-6 and WVU Tech earned a 10-9 victory in the nightcap.

SMWC moved to 11-9 overall and 6-6 in the River States Conference. The Pomeroys hit the road to Saint Xavier (Ill.) on Tuesday, March 25 for a doubleheader beginning at 3 pm (CT).

GAME ONE: 
The opener got off to a wild start as WVU Tech jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. After Ashlynn James' two-run homer and Olivia Barnett's solo shot, the Golden Bears seemed poised to take control.

However, the Pomeroys quickly responded with five runs in the bottom of the first. Hailey Boardman reached first on a fielding error, scoring Kyar McVey. A walk to Boardman followed by a two-run single from Caeden Bennett gave SMWC the lead, and Boardman scored again on a sacrifice fly from Alyse Rollings.

Hannah Boardman, who was a catalyst for the offense, continued her stellar play in the second inning, blasting a two-run homer that extended the Pomeroy lead to 7-3. The runs kept coming as Jaleigh Crawford stole home and Rollings added another RBI single.

WVU Tech tried to mount a comeback in the fourth inning with three runs. Heather Skeens and James drove in runs, cutting the SMWC lead to 9-6. But that would be as close as the Golden Bears would get.

In the sixth inning, Hannah Boardman delivered her second home run of the game, a two-run shot that put the Pomeroys up 11-6. Crawford followed with a solo homer to add more insurance, and SMWC closed out the game for a 12-6 win.

Alex Overman (6-3) earned the win for Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, throwing 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out six. Tiffani Scott (1-8) took the loss for WVU Tech, giving up five runs on three hits in just 0.1 innings of work.

Boardman finished with a career-high four RBIs, while Crawford added three runs scored and two RBIs. Bennett chipped in with two RBIs, and Rollings had two hits and an RBI.

For WVU Tech, James and Barnett each homered, with James driving in two runs. Skeens also had two hits and one RBI.

GAME TWO: 
The second game was a back-and-forth battle from the start. WVU Tech struck first in the opening inning, capitalizing on errors to take an early 2-0 lead. However, SMWC responded in the bottom half, exploding for six runs. Hailey Boardman's two-RBI single and Caeden Bennett's three-RBI double highlighted the offensive surge, putting the home team in front 6-2.

WVU Tech chipped away at the lead with a run in the second inning and added two more in the fourth to close the gap to 6-5. SMWC briefly extended its lead to 7-5 in the bottom of the fourth when Emily Singleton scored on an error, but the game quickly swung in favor of WVU Tech in the fifth.

A grand slam by Olivia Barnett, which brought in four runs, highlighted a five-run inning for the visitors, giving them a 10-7 lead. The Pomeroys didn't go quietly, scoring two runs in the sixth to pull within one, but they were unable to push across any more runs in the final frame.

Maggie Gill earned the win for WVU Tech, going the distance and allowing nine runs on 11 hits while striking out four. Emily Fitzwater (2-3) took the loss for SMWC, surrendering seven runs in just 1.2 innings of relief.

Offensively for WVU Tech, Barnett finished with three hits, including the grand slam, and six RBIs. Hailey Skeens had a standout performance with four hits, while Barnett and Skeens also contributed to the team's nine-run, 11-hit attack.

For SMWC, Jaidyn Fuller led the way with four hits and one RBI. Bennett also had a big game, going 1-for-1 with a double and three RBIs. Despite 11 hits as a team, the Pomeroys couldn't overcome the big inning from WVU Tech.