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WINONA, Minn. — Heading into Sunday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Gustavus, the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team's hopes of a fourth trip to the MIAC Tournament were hanging by a thread.
When the final out was recorded Sunday afternoon, those hopes were officially put on life support.
Gustavus put together a pair of five-run innings, one in each game, as the Gusties knocked off the Cardinals 7-0 and 6-2 at Cotter Field — and all but knocked SMU out of the playoff hunt.
"We didn't put together much of an offensive performance today," said SMU coach
Jen Miller, whose team dropped into a fourth-place tie with Augsburg at 13-7, while Gustavus solidified its strangle-hold on the conference's No. 2 spot at 16-4 with its seventh and eighth straight MIAC wins. "Gustavus is a very good team, but we didn't swing the bats the way we are capable — you aren't going to win many games scoring two runs.
"We knew how important these two games were for our playoff chances," Miller added. "And we certainly didn't do ourselves any favors. Now we are going to need to a couple of wins — and some help — if we are going to get in."
And that may be easier said than done, as the Cardinals close out their conference schedule with a pair of games against nationally ranked and conference-leading St. Thomas — a team that will enter Tuesday's doubleheader at Cotter Field riding a 50-game winning streak against conference foes.
Not to mention 15 straight wins against the Cardinals, dating back to a 1-0 victory in the championship game of the 2001 MIAC Tournament — when Miller was the Cardinals' starting catcher.
"It's going to be a tough task — but it's not impossible, either," said Miller of facing the Tommies. "They are a good team, but when we play the way we are capable, so are we. We just need to come out focused and ready to play our best ball of the season.
"If we can do that, who knows what can happen."
If the Cardinals could have done that Sunday against the Gusties, they wouldn't be in such a predicament.
Rachel Click proved to be a one-woman wrecking crew in the opener, delivering a run-scoring double in the first inning, then belting a 2-0
Sarah Fitzgerald (Colo, Iowa) offering over the centerfield fence for a three-run home run in GAC's five-run third. Click would then add her second home run, a one-out, solo shot in the seventh to finish Game 1 3-for--4 with five RBIs and two runs scored.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, managed just two hits — singles by
Cassie Otte (Randolph, Minn.) in the fourth and
Kellie Simons (Richfield, Minn.) in the sixth — off GAC pitcher Callie Nelsen, who did not walk a batter and struck out eight in the complete-game win.
SMU did manage to generate a little more scoring punch in Game 2 — albeit just one swing of the bat — as
Jennifer Thesing (Lewiston, Minn.) belted her third home run of the season, a two-run shot in the second inning to give SMU a short-lived, 2-1 advantage.
The Gusties answered back in the fourth, as Julie Mahre's bases-clearing double highlighted a five-run inning that gave GAC the lead for good, 6-2.
"Two big innings cost us," said Miller, who got a pair of singles from Otte and Thesing's home run to highlight the team's six-hit Game 2 attack. "Gustavus is a good-hitting team, and they proved that today. We are going to need to be a little better in all facets of the game (on Tuesday) is we are going to compete against St. Thomas."
