No. 12 St. Thomas slips past Bruins, 7-6

MELBOURNE, Fla. — No. 12 St. Thomas (Fla.) University scored three runs in the top of the seventh and held on for a 7-6 win over Bellevue University on Thursday at the Space Coast Spring Games.

Bellevue moved to 7-11 on the season with the loss. STU improved to 17-6 overall. 

How It Happened

STU struck first in the opening inning when Ortiz singled in Mya Achenbach for a 1-0 lead. Bellevue answered in the bottom half as Kaitlyn Fisher reached on an error, stole second, and scored on Mariah Unverzagt's sacrifice fly to even it at 1-1. The Bobcats loaded the bases with no outs in the second, but Unverzagt worked out of the jam with two force outs at the plate and a groundout to second to keep the game tied 1-1.

The Bobcats moved back in front in the third when Gianella Gomez singled in Jade Fayad to make it 2-1, but Bellevue answered in the bottom half of the inning as Savannah Short scored on Breanne McMurtry's bases-loaded walk to tie it 2-2. The Bobcats regained the lead in the fourth on Ortiz's RBI single (STU 3-2), then Bellevue swung in front with two in the bottom half. Miranda Garcia scored on Laila Fiscus' RBI reach on an error to tie it 3-3, and Fisher followed with an RBI single to put the Bruins ahead 4-3.

STU tied the game in the sixth on Ortiz's RBI double (tied 4-4). In the seventh, the Bobcats pushed across three runs as Ava Regoli's two-run triple put STU in front 6-4, and Giada Acanfora's RBI groundout extended the lead to 7-4.

Bellevue responded in the bottom half when Fisher singled, and Marguerite Brown doubled to open the inning. Zoucha's sacrifice bunt brought Fisher home (STU 7-5), and McMurtry's RBI groundout scored Brown to trim it to 7-6. Ortiz then closed it out by getting Leslie Egan to ground out to second on the first pitch for the final out.

Top Performers

Bellevue University

Kaitlyn Fisher: 2-for-4, RBI, 2 R

Marguerite Brown: 2-for-4, 2B, R

Mariah Unverzagt: 1-for-3, 2 RBI

Laila Fiscus: 1-for-3, RBI

St. Thomas (Fla.) University

Christina Ortiz: 4-for-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; SV (7)

Ava Regoli: 2-for-3, 3B, 2 RBI

Gianella Gomez: 2-for-4, RBI

Mya Achenbach: 2-for-4, 3 R

Inside the Numbers

St. Thomas: 7 runs on 14 hits, 2 errors, 9 LOB; Bellevue: 6 runs on 8 hits, 0 errors, 5 LOB.

Bellevue went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position; STU finished 6-for-15.

St. Thomas got a lift from three extra-base hits (two doubles from Ortiz and Regoli's triple), while Bellevue's only extra-base hit was Brown's double.

Up Next:
The Bruins will conclude action at the Space Coast Spring Games on Friday, March 13, when they battle the University of Northwestern Ohio at 9 a.m. and No. 6-ranked Madonna University at 1:30 p.m. (CT).