Saints report: CSS baseball wins twice in Florida

St. Scholastica claimed its first two baseball victories of the season as part of a seven-game Florida trip that concluded on Saturday.

The RussMatt Invitational in Auburndale and Davenport, Florida started with a 13-7 loss on Sunday to Central, a 14-4 loss to William Paterson on Monday, a 15-0 win over Mount St. Mary (N.Y.) on Monday, an 8-2 loss to Simpson on Tuesday, a 7-0 loss to Wisconsin-La Crosse on Thursday, a 7-2 win over Ramapo on Friday and a 5-4 loss to Ohio Northern on Saturday.

The Central game was tied after eight innings when Central scored six in the top of the ninth. Jake Schelonka had a double as part of a three-hit game. He had two more hits in the loss to William Paterson.

In the blowout win over Mount St. Mary, pitchers Grant Taival and Joe Talmage combined on a two-hit shutout and three players had two-hit games offensively.

Schelonka and Ryan Garlick had two hits apiece in the loss to Simpson. Alex Haapajoki had two of the Saints' six hits in the shutout loss to La Crosse and hit a grand slam in the victory over Ramapo.

In the finale against Ohio Northern, Mitchell Novak was 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

The Saints (2-11) play in Minnesota for the first time on Friday vs. Bethany Lutheran. Their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener is April 1 at St. Mary's and their home opener is April 12 vs. Concordia.

St. Scholastica softball got outdoors for the first time this season this week in a 10-game Florida trip, going 6-4.

The Saints got things started on Sunday, March 12 with a thriller vs. North Park, scoring two in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings and winning it 6-5 in eight innings on a walk-off sacrifice fly by CSS pitcher Ashley Matejka.

Washington College bested CSS in the second game of the day, 7-5, despite a homer and four RBIs from Samantha Paniagua.

On Monday, CSS lost its opener 6-3 to Lasell even though Emma Bolin was 2-for-4 with a stolen base. They recovered to beat Ripon 2-0 in five innings as Haley Rosenthal pitched a two-hit shutout.

Tuesday, CSS beat Wesleyan 10-5 and Beloit 6-1. Lauren Laviano went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs against Wesleyan, while against Beloit, Savannah Romero scattered eight Beloit hits in a complete game in the pitcher's circle.

After a day off, Bolin and Maddison Blade had two hits and an RBI apiece in a 6-4 decision over St. Mary's (Indiana).

The trip concluded on Friday with a 9-6 loss to Lake Forest and a 5-1 defeat to Knox. Against the Foresters, Paniagua homered and drove in three, while against Knox, Payton Lang's RBI single was one of just three CSS hits.

CSS (10-6) kicks off MIAC play on April 1 at Hamline and is scheduled to open the home schedule April 2 vs. St. Benedict.