BELTON, Texas – St. Thomas avoided elimination with a 12-0 win over Rosemont College behind a dazzling no-hit performance from Allison Hughes in game four of the Belton Regional, but host Mary Hardin-Baylor blanked the Celts, 8-0, to advance to the regional final and eliminate St. Thomas from NCAA Tournament action.
In the opening game, Hughes dazzled in the circle, tossing the program’s first no-hitter in NCAA Tournament history. She tossed five innings of no-hit action, striking out five Ravens. It marked the 14th win on the season for the first-year.
Offensively, the Celts scored a run in all but one inning, including back-to-back five inning frames in the fourth and the fifth. Jaelyn Simmons led the way at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Grace Torres and Chloe Bennett each finished with a pair of RBI each, while Rebecca Archibald, Kayleigh Deakle and Delayne Moreno all scored twice in the win.
St. Thomas finished the game with 13 hits, the most since the Celts belted 15 in a win over Schriner back on April 29th.
With the win, St. Thomas advanced to the loser’s bracket final to take on UMHB for the second time in as many days.
The game remained tight through the opening three innings as the Cru held a 1-0 lead going into the fourth, but seven runs over the next three innings from UHMB was too much to overcome for St. Thomas.
Blakely Niles paced the way at the plate for UMHB going a perfect 2-for-2 with four RBI. Taylor Holman finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Kamie Flores picked up her 14th win of the season in the circle, scattering just six hits over six innings of work.
For the Celts, Kayleigh Deakle went 2-for-2 at the plate, while Jaelyn Simmons finished 1-for-3. Simmons finished her NCAA Tournament going 4-for-9 and registering a hit in all three games.
UMHB advances to the Belton Regional championship where they will have to beat Berry twice to advance to the NCAA Super Regional weekend.
St. Thomas closes out the season with a program record 33 wins in just its third season in school history. In addition to making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, the Celts also capture their first SCAC Tournament Title earlier this month.
