SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.V.  – The No. 2 seeded St. Mary-of-the-Woods Pomeroys scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back en route to a 4-2 victory over No. 3 Ohio Christian on Thursday in the opening round of the River States Conference Tournament.

SMWC improved to 32-15 while Ohio Christian fell to 17-26. The Pomeroys are the RSC East Division #2 seed at the River States Conference Tournament and move on to play the winner of No. 1 Shawnee State (Ohio) and No. 4 Midway (Ky.) on Friday, May 3 in South Charleston, W.V at 10:00 am (ET).

Ohio Christian would grab a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning before the Pomeroys countered with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame. The score was knotted when Lyric Krause singled to right center to score Jasmine Kinzer. Annika Hannigan singled through the left side to score Jaselyn Conn to push the Pomeroys ahead 2-1. Jaleigh Crawford drove in Krause on a ground out and then Naveah Pender closed out the inning with a single to right field which scored Hannigan for the 4-1 advantage.

An RBI single from Ohio Christian in the top of the fifth inning cut the SMWC lead down to 4-2.

At the plate, Pender and Kinzer each recorded a pair of hits in the contest. 

Emily Fitzwater (8-2) picked up the victory with a five inning effort allowing just a pair of runs and a strikeout. Marin Jacobs tossed the final two frames to record her third save of the season.