Box Score vs. Calvin / Box Score vs. St. Joseph's / Photo Gallery

Tucson Invitational GameDay Online

TUCSON, Ariz. — Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball coach Jen Miller enjoyed the best of both worlds Saturday afternoon.

Not only did the Cardinal head coach get to sit back and watch her offense feast on opposing pitching, banging out 17 hits and scoring 15 runs in their games against Calvin and St. Joseph's, but she also witnessed her pitchers turn in a pair of gems, allowing just two hit in each nonconference contest.

The end result? A pair of SMU victories.

“It was a good day all around,” said Miller, after her team beat Calvin 5-0, then turned around and posted its second straight shutout with a 10-0 rout of St. Joseph's. “We swung the bats well, and we got great pitching.

“It was nice to see us put it all together in back-to-back games.”

The Cardinals, who had split their first four games of their eight-game spring trip, got all the offense they would need in the bottom of the third inning against Calvin, as SMU plated three runs — including two on a two-run, two-out single by Katy Gannon (Roselle, Ill.). SMU would add two more runs in the sixth, getting an RBI triple from Gannon and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Danielle Geske (Rosemount).

With the offense doing its part, Cardinal pitcher Mallory Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) did hers, limiting Calvin to just a pair of singles — on in the second and one in the third — while striking out five and not walking a batter. Jaci Prondzinski (Ettrick, Wis.) pitched the seventh, striking out one in preserving the shutout.

Both Betzold and Prondzinski got the afternoon off against St. Joseph's, as Madeline Salmon (Woodbury, Minn.) made the most of her first collegiate start, tossing a complete-game two hitter — surrendering just an infield single in the first and a two-out single in the fourth. Salmon walked four and struck out four.

SMU sent 12 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning against St. Joseph's  — scoring eight times, and never looking back en route to their third straight victory. Otte, Jessica Gutterman (Shoreview, Minn.) and Angie Diercks (Red Wing, Minn.) all had two hits to pace the Cardinals' 11-hit attack.

“It was a good day for us all the way around,” said Miller, whose team closes out its spring trip with games against sixth-ranked Luther and Pacific University on Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. “Hopefully we can keep it up (Sunday) against two very good teams.”