Game 1 Boxscore
WINONA, Minn. — Just when Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball coach Nikki Fennern thought she'd seen it all, along came Wednesday afternoon.
Not only did the Cardinals drop a 4-2 decision to Gustavus in the longest game of the season — 10 innings and more than two-and-a-half hours — but they also found themselves tied with the Gusties 4-4 after four innings in the second game.
And then darkness fell.
"I've never been involved in anything quite like this," said Fennern of the Game 2 suspension, which means the two teams will start over from scratch Thursday at noon. "It's kind of like playing the first game of the doubleheader all over again — only their won't be a second game.
"It's a little unfortunate, because I thought we were really starting to hit the ball," continued Fennern, whose team erupted for four second-inning runs in Game 2. "To finally string some hits together like that was great to see."
Unfortunately, it was all for naught — thanks to the Game 1 marathon.
"That was a great game," said Fennern. "Both teams had their chances — we just weren't able to come up with the clutch hit when we needed it."
The Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings — getting an RBI single from Amy Edge (Mineral Point, Wis.) in the first and an RBI sacrifice bunt from Hanni Lohmann (Lake Elmo, Minn.) in the second — only to have the Gusties tie it with two in the third.
The early fireworks quickly fizzled, however, as neither team plated another run until the top of the 10th, when GAC's Ingrid Olson belted a two-out, two-run home run over the centerfield fence to give the Gusties their ninth straight win.
"We had our chances," admitted Fennern, whose Cardinals put runners on first and second with no one out in the eighth, but couldn't manufacture a run. "It's not like we didn't hit the ball well — we had 10 hits. We just weren't able to get that key hit when we needed it.
"Hopefully, tomorrow will be a different story."
It certainly will be different, all right.
