Linfield (Ore.) hit two home runs and rallied from a 1-0 deficit to post a 3-1 victory over St. Thomas in Sunday's NCAA softball regional title game in Indianola, Iowa.
Linfield (39-5) capped a 4-0 run on the tournament and advances to next week's College World Series.
The Tommies (40-8) needed a win to force a Monday title game. They led 1-0 after four innings but couldn't close out the victory. UST outhit Linfield 6-5 but missed a couple of scoring chances. Rachel Tondryk went 2-for-3 for UST, which went 6-2 in the postseason.
The Tommies took second in the regional and posted the program's seventh consecutive 40-win season. After a 2-4 start, they won 38 of their last 42 games.
Earlier in the day, Marta Radcliffe threw a complete-game four-hitter and drove in two runs with a double to lead St. Thomas to a 6-1 win over Illinois Wesleyan 6-1 in today's elimination game at the NCAA softball regional in Indianola, Iowa.
UST, which never trailed, outhit IWU 8-4 and beat the Titans for the second time in three days. The Toms were led by Kayla Boward's 3-for-4 day. Radcliffe retired 16 of the last 19 batters.
St. Thomas (40-7) now has won 40 games for the seventh consecutive season. They face Linfield at 1:30 p.m. and need to win to force a Monday rematch for the region crown.
St. Thomas Softball