Boxscore

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — As if playing national powers like Simpson and Central wasn't tough enough, the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team decided to add one other opponent to the mix Saturday afternoon — themselves.

The Cardinals proved to be their own worst enemy during the opening day of the Coe Tournament, as SMU committed five errors which led to six unearned runs in losses to both Simpson (6-5) and Coe (5-1).

"We beat ourselves as much as our opponents beat us," said SMU coach Nikki Fennern. "I thought we hit the ball pretty well, and our pitching was pretty good, but defensively, we weren't very good at all.

"You can't afford to give teams like Simpson and Central extra outs, yet that's exactly what we did," continued Fennern, whose team will face Monmouth and host Coe in Sunday's final day of the two-day tournament. "Teams like that are tough enough when you are playing at your best. But when you struggle in the field like we did, it makes it really tough."

After giving up a pair of first-inning runs to Simpson in the opener, SMU responded with two runs in the third and three more in the fifth to take what appeared to be a commanding 5-2 lead into the top of the sixth inning.

And then the Storm blew in.

Simpson erupted for three runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game, then added a single run in the top of the seventh to secure the win.

The Cardinals again found themselves staring at a 2-0 first-inning deficit against Central, but this time, SMU did not have enough offensive firepower, cutting the gap to 2-1 on an RBI single by Tara Close (North St. Paul, Minn.) in the fifth, only to give up three to the Storm in the bottom of the fifth.

"Defensively, we've got to get better, it's that simple," said Fennern. "Right now that's the piece of the puzzle that's missing."