Box Score CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa –Sarah Hintz (Le Roy HS, Le Roy, Ill.) held St. Thomas scoreless for six innings Friday and
Laura Behnke (St. Francis HS, Roselle, Ill.) and
Jaime Rehmert (Sterling HS, Sterling, Ill.) each hit home runs as Augustana knocked off the 13th-ranked Tommies 7-1 in the opener of the NCAA Division III Regional hosted by Coe College. Coach
Kris Kistler's 22nd-ranked club, now 34-11 this season, moves on to face top-seeded Coe (36-8) on Saturday. St. Thomas falls to 36-6 and will play St. Scholastica (27-11).
Meg DePuis' RBI single in the bottom of the seventh spoiled Hintz's shutout bid, but the senior right-hander closed things out to improve to 18-4 on the year. Hintz allowed just four hits and a pair of walks while striking out four in her 17th complete game of the season.
The third-seeded Vikings struck for a run in the top of the first. Junior
Jenna Teson (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) had a one-out single to center off Tommie ace Kendra Bowe (19-5) and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of sophomore
Ashley Anderson (Sherrard HS, Sherrard, Ill.). Bowe left two runners stranded to avoid further damage.
Behnke led off the top of the third with her team-leading seventh home run of the season. Teson followed with a walk and one out later, Rehmert blasted her fourth round-tripper of the year to knock out Bowe and give Hintz and Augustana a 4-0 lead.
The Vikings added three more in the sixth. Junior
Chelsea Lavin (Downers Grove South HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) drew a leadoff walk and classmate
Christina Pagan (Normal West HS, Normal, Ill.) singled her to second. Sophomore
Kendra Rakers (Belleville West HS, Millstadt, Ill.) ran for Pagan and moved up, along with Teson, on a Hintz sacrifice. Tommie hurler Annie Boyle intentionally walked Behnke to load the bases and Teson foiled that tactic with an RBI single down the right field line. Watson was hit by a pitch to force in another run and Rehmert made it 7-0 with an RBI single to left.
Rehmert, a senior first baseman, finished 3-for-4 with three RBI. Teson was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Behnke scored twice as well.
Augustana moves on in the winner's bracket, taking on Coe at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 10 at Clark Field in Cedar Rapids.
