ELLENSBURG, Wash. – For the first time since 2013, the Saints are heading back to the GNAC Championships finals, beating Central Washington 10-0 on Friday.
 
The game began as a pitcher's duel, scoreless thru four innings. Tia Ridings, who got the start for the Saints, allowed only three hits over the first four innings, but nobody allowed to score.
 
Saint Martin's did not collect their first baserunner until the fifth inning when Britney Patrick woke up the bats with a single through the left side. After a fly out, Shay Lopes got on with her base hit up the middle, setting up Olivia Schmidt. Schmidt put the Saints on the board with her two RBI triple to the right center gap.
 
With a two-run lead, the Saints turned the ball over to Chloe Leverington to close the door. The freshman stranded one runner in the fifth and put the Wildcats down in order in the sixth.
 
Looking to add an insurance run or two in the seventh, the Saints did that and plenty more. The eight-run inning began with a single through the left side by Kekai Schultz, followed by a walk and hit-by-pitch to load the bases. With the rain starting to fall heavily, a wild pitch allowed a run to score before the game was delayed and the tarp was pulled.
 
After a 33-minute rain delay, the Saints' bats came out on fire. Megan Convery, Vanessa Smoke, and Kylee Vanderbout delivered RBI singles to make it a 6-0 ball game. Pinder and Patrick put the game out of reach with their two RBI double, and triple respectively to turn a tightly contested game into a 10-0 affair.
 
Leverington shut the door in the ninth with two more strikeouts, and a foul out to send the Saints to their first GNAC Championship final in nine years.
 
The Saints will play the winner of No. 1 seed Northwest Nazarene and No. 4 seed Central Washington tomorrow. The Nighthawks and Wildcats will play the win-or-go-home tonight. Updates will be made on smusaints.com.