Plattsburgh State Box Score /
Tufts Box Score /
GameDay Online
ORANGE, Calif. — For the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team, the Sun West Tournament ended the same way it began.
And the same way the four games in between did as well.
Which is not good news for the Cardinals and coach
Jen Miller.
SMU saw its tournament losing streak climb to eight straight Friday afternoon, as Plattsburgh State handed the Cardinals a 2-1, eight-inning setback, while Tufts used a four-run sixth to put away SMU 12-4 in their tournament finale.
"It was a tough week," said Miller, whose team saw her team fall to 1-11 on the season, with their lone win a 17-9 victory over Buena Vista on March 8. "We played some good ball, but we weren't very consistent — we weren't able to put it all together like you need to if you are going to be successful, especially in a conference like the MIAC."
Plattsburgh State broke a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth inning, but the Cardinals responded in their halft of the sixth, scoring an unearned run to knot the game at 1-1. After a scoreless seventh, the Cardinals plated the only run in the eighth to seal the win.
"We had our chances, we just couldn't come up with the key hit when we needed it," said Miller of the loss to Plattsburgh State, in which SMU managed just four hits — two off the bat of
Cassie Otte (Randolph, Minn.) — while committing two errors. "This was a game in which we let the win slip out of our grasp."
It looked like the Cardinals would be involved in another nailbiter against Tufts, as SMU scored three times in the second — two on a two-run single by
Jenny Giannini (River Grove, Ill.) — and led 4-3 heading into the fourth inning.
A fourth inning that saw Tufts score five runs on four hits and one SMU error to take the lead for good, 8-4. The Jumbos would add four more runs in the sixth to complete the rout.
"It's disappointing (to go winless in their eight tournament games," said Miller. "I don't know what more to say — we weren't very sharp all week. And when you are playing teams at the level we did, you have to be at your best every time you step on the field."
