Thomas More Goes 1-1 on First Day of PAC Tournament

(NEW WILMINGTON, Pa.) – The No. 2 seed Thomas More College softball team split a pair of games today (Friday, May 6, 2016) on the first day of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament at Titan Field in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.  The Saints fell 1-0 to No. 3 seed Saint Vincent College in the first game of the tournament, but defeated No. 1 seed Westminster College, 5-0, in the first elimination game of the tournament.

With the win, the Saints improve to 31-9 and advance to face either Saint Vincent or No. 4 seed Bethany College in tomorrow's elimination game at 10 a.m. at Titan Field.

In the first game of the day, Saint Vincent scored the lone run of the game in the top of the third inning.

Senior pitcher Mamee Salzer (Erlanger, Ky./St. Henry) suffered the loss in the circle as she pitched seven inning and gave up one run (unearned) on seven hits and struck out three.

At the plate, the freshman third baseman Whitney Quillen (Dayton, Ohio/Highlands), sophomore second baseman Sammy Sagers (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills), sophomore catcher Bree Appel (Amelia, Ohio/Batavia) and sophomore center fielder Laura Finke (Fort Wright, Ky./Notre Dame Academy) each had a hit for the Saints.

In the elimination game, the Saints took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Sagers scored on a run-batted-in single by sophomore left fielder Dallis Knotts (Florence, Ky./Boone County).  Thomas More increased the lead to 5-0 in the top of the seventh when Knotts hit a two-run home run scoring junior pinch runner Kayla Fulcher (Mason, Ohio/Cincinnati Christian) and then freshman second baseman Alix DeDreu (Rising Sun, Ind./Rising Sun) hit a RBI doubles plating Quillen and senior shortstop Ana Walter (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon).

Salzer earned the complete game shutout win.  She gave up six hits and striking out two.

Knotts led Thomas More at the plate as she was three-for-three with a home run, a run scored and three RBI.  Appel was two-for-three with a double and Walter was two-for-four with a run scored.