Game 1 Box Score /
Game 2 Box Score
WINONA, Minn. — It wasn't the ending they were hoping to write when the season started, but they'll take in none the less.
The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team closed out its regular season in stellar fashion Wednesday afternoon, sweeping its Minnesota Intercollegaite Athletic Conference doubleheader from Macalester with wins of 7-0 and 4-2.
The Cardinals, who entered the season hoping for back-to-back MIAC championships and a third straight NCAA Division III national tournament appearance, ran into a few potholes along the way, and entered their final two MIAC games mired in third place in the conference race with a 14-6 record.
"Obviously we'd like to be playing for the conference title, but our goal is to make these final two games a very positive way for our seven graduating players to end their careers," SMU coach
Nikki Fennern said before the game. "There aren't too many teams who get to finish their seasons with two wins — and that's what we want for our seniors."
And that's exactly what they got.
Jennifer Miller (Winona, Minn.),
Niki Lynch (Winona, Minn.) and
Stacy Cormican (Glenwood City, Wis.) led the Cardinals' 10-hit Game 1 attack with two hits apiece. SMU scored early and often in Game 1, scoring twice in both the first and second innings, before adding two more runs in the fifth and one in the sixth, as the Cardinals snapped a season-high three-game losing streak.
Things were a little trickier in the nightcap, as SMU again raced out to a 4-0 advantage with two runs in both the second and third innings, but the Scots battled back, scoring twice in the top of the seventh, before
Kari Smith (Lourdes, Iowa) got a flyball out with the bases loaded to seal the win. Miller,
Gina Rizzardi (Woodbury, Minn.) and
Annie Hovde (Cottage Grove, Minn.) all collected two hits to account for six of SMU's seven hits. Hovde also drove in two runs, while Miller drove in the other.
The Cardinals closed out their season with at 25-11 overall and 16-6 in the MIAC.
