LACEY, Wash. – Entering the weekend series against Western Oregon, the Saints needed two victories to clinch their spot in the GNAC Championships. On Saturday, they opened with a complete game 2-0 shutout from Abby Runyon before falling 6-5 to set up a dramatic final day of games.
 
Runyon worked out of multiple jams on the day in the opener, stranding eight runners on the bases, including five in scoring position. On the day, Runyon walked zero batters, while striking out six batters to help secure the win.
 
Saint Martin's did not collect their first hit of the game until Emery Norwood's bunt single in the fourth. But their first runs did not come until the sixth inning. With two outs, and a runner on first, Britney Patrick delivered in the clutch.
 
The freshman ripped a double into left center, scoring Megan Convery and put the Saints on top. Julia Lucas followed up with a single through the left side to drive in Patrick as an insurance run to sure up the 2-0 victory.
 
In the second game, Saint Martin's jumped out to an early 4-1 lead after one inning. The Saints managed to chase the Wolves' starter from the game after one out on RBI hits from Lucas, Destiny Conerly, and Karley Yoshioka.
 
After four innings, the Saints held a 5-2 lead, and were nearing towards clinching the final spot in the GNAC Championships. However, Western Oregon had other thoughts.
 
In the fifth, the Wolves added one, before scoring three in the sixth to take their first lead of the day. Saint Martin's managed to get the game-winning run to second, and tying run on third with two outs in the seventh. Kylee Vanderbout laced a ball to the right side; however, right at the second baseman, ending the game with the tying run just feet away.
 
The Saints and Western Oregon will decide the final spot in the GNAC Championships tomorrow, starting at noon. Saints need to win one of the two, while Western Oregon needs to take both to clinch the fourth seed. Live stats and streaming will be available on smusaints.com.