Lacey, Wash. - Battling the weather, the Saints' comeback victory over Western Washington earned them a spilt in a conference doubleheader at the SMU Softball field on Saturday.
 
Game One
 
Western Washington got off to an early lead with a three-run home run from right fielder Carlie Richards, her first home run of the year.
 
In the third inning, Makinlee Sellevold got a pitch she could handle, leaving the park to dead center and extending the Vikings lead to 5-0. Shortstop Paityn Cyr's infield single brought home the sixth run of the game to finish the third inning.
 
After a 20 minute rain delay, the Saints' offense came to life in the bottom of the third with a two-out rally. Lauren Diuco singled, followed by walks from Mary Dettling and Jackie Schmaeling loaded the bases for Sabrina Hicks. Hicks worked a 2-2 count before sending a ball over the left field fence for a grand slam and put the Saints on the board, 6-4. 
 
Western Washington drove in a run in the top of the fifth with a sacrifice fly from Kali Patterson. Saint Martin's responded quickly with an Alyssa French two-run home run, her first career home run, to cut the score to 7-6 after five.
 
The Vikings picked up two key insurance runs in the top of the seventh on a double down the left field line, extending the lead to 9-6.
 
The Saints put together an impressive seventh inning rally that began with singles from Corrie Wilson and Nicki DeHan. With two outs and runners on second and first, Alyssa Slate singled to center, scoring Wilson. Next batter Lindsay Miller, beat out an infield single to the pitcher, scoring DeHan and brought the Saints within one run. With the tying run on third, Western Washington managed to close out the game on a ground out to short.

Kim Nelson (8-6) picked up the loss after only going 2.1 innings, allowing six runs on five hits with two walks and one strikeout. Lauren Maley came in for relief and closed the final 4.2 innings, on six hits, three runs and one walk.

"Although Kim Nelson struggled today, they fought hard the entire first game and had a chance to tie it in the 7th, but came up short" said head coach Rick Noren.

Game Two

Right as the first pitch of the second game was thrown, the rain started to fall, causing issues for the Saints' pitching. Western Washington took advantage of the first inning, where five wild pitches and an error resulted in four runs.

After a 1-2-3 bottom of the first, only two pitches were thrown in the top of the second before a hailstorm blanketed the field, forcing play to stop. After an hour and 30 minute relay due to the weather, play finally resumed.

The Saints got on the board in the bottom of the third on a single to center from Lindsay Miller and a fielding error by the centerfielder brought home Paige Miller. With the bases loaded, Jackie Schmaeling's double off the left field wall cleared the bases and knotted the game at 4-4.

Western regained the lead in the fourth on a solo home run just clearing the right field wall from Cylie Richards.

The Saints took their first lead of the day in the bottom half of the fourth after L. Miller singled to right field, scoring Wilson and Taylor Wolf also scored after a throwing error by the right fielder.

Saint Martin's added two more runs in the fifth inning after a double by Hicks and single by Alyssa French each scored one run. The final blow came in the sixth after Hicks' single squeezed down the right field line, scoring both Emily Baca and L. Miller to cap-off the 10-5 victory.

Jessica O'Toole got the start for the Saints and failed to see her way out of the first inning, recording two outs and allowed four runs, two earned on two hits and three walks. L. Miller (2-2) came in for relief, quieting the Vikings' bats to one run on three hits over the course of 6.1 innings.

"After spending more than an hour removing hail, water and mud to play the second game, Lindsay Miller and the defense did a great job holding down the potent Western bats" said Noren. "Our offense did a great job putting the ball in play and fighting through the adversity of spending more than nine hours at the field. I couldn't be more proud of the team today."

Up Next: The Saints remain at home for a doubleheader against Simon Fraser on Sunday, April 9 with first pitch scheduled for noon. Live stats and video will be available for both games.