Box Score vs. Mt. Mary / Box Score vs. Central

Tucson Invitational GameDay Online

TUCSON, Ariz. — If Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball coach Jen Miller had her way, the Cardinals would have borrowed a couple of the runs they scored in their first game Friday and used them in the second.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals' head coach, it doesn't work that way.

The Cardinals erupted for 27 runs — thanks in large part to the 17 Mount Mary walks — in cruising to a 27-0, five-inning nonconference win over the Blue Angels in the first of their two Tucson Invitational games Friday afternoon.

SMU's offense wasn't nearly as effective in the second game, as Central held the Cardinals to just seven hits and two runs in dealing them a 6-2 nonconference setback.

“It was a good-news, bad-news kind of day,” said Miller, whose team had opened their spring trip with a 7-1 loss to Lakeland and a 4-0 win vs. Amherst on Thursday. “We did a lot of good things offensively in both games, we just weren't able to come up with the clutch hits (vs. Central) that we needed.

“I thought we played a pretty solid game (vs. the Dutch), we just had a couple of letdowns, and they made us pay.”

Mount Mary proved to be its own worst enemy against the Cardinals, as SMU turned seven first-inning walks into nine runs, then added 13 more in the second, three in the third and two in the second in posting their second 20-plus offensive output in less than a week.

Jaci Prondzinski (Ettrick, Wis.) led SMU's 18-hit attack vs. the Blue Angels, going 4-for-4, while also scoring five runs. Cassie Otte (Randolph, Minn.), Katy Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) and Amanda Vaneeuwe (Ghent, Minn.) all collected three hits, with Gannon driving in rive runs, while Otte boasts four RBIs.

SMU's bats were silenced against Central, as the Dutch jumped out to a 2-0, first-inning lead and pushed it to 3-0 with a single run in the bottom of the second.

The Cardinals whittled away at the Dutch's lead, scoring single runs in the third and fifth innings, but Central responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth, then iced the win with two in the sixth.

“I was happy with the way we battled the entire game (against Central),” said Miller. “We fell behind early, but never let down — we kept clawing away. We made a few mistakes (in the sixth) and that really hurt us.

“It was a good overall performance, and, hopefully, something we can build on over the next two days.”