Boxscore
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Want to know the best part of a double-elimination tournament?
No matter what happens, you get a do-over.
And after a disappointing 6-1 loss to St. Thomas in the winner's bracket game of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Friday, that's exactly what the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team is looking for — a do-over.
"We knew coming in that we wanted a shot at St. Thomas, but we also knew that we had to stay focused on (Gustavus) first, and we did that," said SMU coach Nikki Fennern, whose team opened play in the four-team doulble-elimination tournament with a 3-0 victory over the Gusties. "Once we got past Gustavus, we were excited about the opportunity to play St. Thomas.
"Unfortunately, we didn't play as well as we would have liked," added Fennern. "But the nice thing is, we get to go out and do the same thing again (Saturday). We'll stay focused on getting the job done against Gustavus, and, hopefully, get another shot at St. Thomas."
Gustauvs earned another shot at the Cardinals by beating Hamline 3-1 in the loser's bracket game, and SMU and Gustavus will square off at 11 a.m. Saturday, with the winner facing St. Thomas at 1:30 p.m. If St. Thomas wins that game, the Tommies will win the tournament — and the NCAA automatic berth into the regional tournament. If the Tommies lose, the same two teams will play again at 4 p.m., with the winner then automatically advancing.
The Tommies jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, then added a single run in the fourth and three more in the fifth to take a commanding 6-0 advantage. SMU loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but came up empty, then did the same — getting a bases-loaded walk from Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) to account for their lone run.
"We had our share of opportunities, and we're looking at that as a positive — we had more than our fair share of chances (against St. Thomas)," said Fennern, whose team had runners on base in five of the seven innings vs. the Tommies — including a runner on third base with less than two outs in three of them. "Now we have to find a way to take the next step — not only to create the opportunities, but to also capitalize on them."
Which is what the Cardinals did in their opener, scoring all three of their runs in the bottom of the first innings.
Jung and Amy Lang (Oshkosh, Wis.) each delivered RBI singles — two of the Cardinals' five first-inning hits — and SMU added another run on a Gustie error in jumping out to their 3-0 lead.
And three runs was more than enough for pitcher Jenny Schipp (North St. Paul, Minn.), who won her 16th straight decision — and won her career-best 21st game of the season — by tossing a six-hit, complete-game shutout.
"Jenny pitched great in the first game — she just tired a bit in the second," said Fennern of her junior right-hander, who had her win streak snapped at 16 with the loss to St. Thomas, in which she was tagged for nine hits and four earned runs in four innings. "It was tough losing that second game like that — hopefully we'll come up with a better ending the second time around."
