Jamie Foote (, ) and Jessica Amador (, ) each drove in three runs and Hannah Klein () made contributions both at the plate and in the pitching circle as the Seattle University softball team advanced to the championship game of the Division I Independent Tournament with a 9-3 victory over Houston Baptist Saturday evening at Butler-Hancock Field.
Foote put ahead in the top of the first inning with a two-run home run to left-center field after Katie Petersen () reached on an infield single. Houston Baptist responded in the bottom of the second, as pitcher Beth Evans helped her own cause with a two-run double that tied the game.
took the lead for good in the third inning as Katie Antich () led off with an infield single, advanced to second on a wild pitch, reached third on a groundout, and scored on a triple by Foote. Foote would score her own run as Lisa Hill () hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to drive her in.
The Redhawks expanded the lead in the fifth inning when Antich and Foote both drew walks and moved up one base on a groundout. Amador sent them both home with a single to centerfield to increase SeattleU’s advantage to 6-2. Houston Baptist (17-23) got one run back in the bottom of the fifth when Laine Skelton scored on a triple by Kali Johnson.
SeattleU pulled away with two outs in the top of the seventh as Hill drew a walk. Amador followed with a double to right-center field that scored pinch runner Lauren Carlson (). Amador would score on a single by Klein, who advanced to second on a wild pitch and came around to score the team’s ninth run when Lauren Berin (Lacey, Wash.) singled to centerfield.
Klein earned her second victory of the day, scattering eight hits over the seven innings. She also went 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and a run batted in. Amador also hit 3-for-4 with a run scored and three runs batted in, while Foote finished the game 2-for-3 with three runs scored and three runs batted in.
Casie Campanello led the Huskies with three hits in four at-bats, while Sara Corcoran finished 2-for-2 with a run scored. Evans took the loss after allowing eight hits, two walks, and six runs in the first five innings, and relief pitcher Jammie Weidert gave up three hits, one walk, and three runs in the final two innings.
Earlier Saturday, clinched second place in Pool A with a 9-0 victory over . In the first round of bracket play, Foote scored the tying run in the sixth inning and drove in the winning run in the seventh inning to give the Redhawks a 2-1 win over Cal State Bakersfield.
(17-20) will face in the championship game Sunday afternoon beginning at 12:00 p.m. local time (a change from originally scheduled due to travel considerations). This is a rematch of Friday’s pool play game in which the Coyotes came back from a 5-1 deficit to defeat the Redhawks in extra innings, 6-5. Live stats will be available through ’s website (http://livestats.prestosports.com/uncbears/sball/softball.html).