WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team spent five days in Anaheim, Calif. — home of Disneyland — early March to take part in the Sun West Tournament.
Coach Miller and the Cardinals didn't have time to visit the infamous Disney theme park, but then, the way this past six days have gone, Disneyland couldn't hold a candle to the rollercoaster ride SMU has been on.
They went up, up, up with a streak-snapping 3-0 Game 2 victory over conference-leading St. Thomas on Tuesday, then plummeted back down with back-to-back losses to Bethel the following day. It was back up with two key wins over Augsburg on Saturday, but again the Cardinals came racing back down on Sunday, as sixth-ranked Luther held SMU to just three hits in posting 8-0 and 2-0 shutout wins at the SMU Field.
The Cardinals were limited to a pair of hits —
Kellie Simons (Richfield, Minn.) single to left in the first and a
Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) double to left in the sixth — by Luther pitcher Lexy Determan in the first game.
Despite managing just the two hits, the Cardinals had their share of chances, putting runners on base in five of the seven innings. SMU could not come up with the key hit however, as Determan recorded third-out strikeouts in four of those five innings and finished with 13 strikeouts.
Luther, meanwhile, banged out 13 hits — 12 of which came after the third inning — while scoring once in the fourth, three times in the fifth, twice in the sixth and twice in the seventh.
As quiet as SMU's bats were in the opener, they were even quieter in Game 2, as Kim Lambert allowed just one hit — a
Hanna Schmitt (Rosemount, Minn.) two-out single in the first — while striking out 12.
SMU starter
Mallory Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) matched Lambert through the first four innings, as the two both took one-hitters into the fifth.
In the fifth, the Norse — who jumped from ninth to sixth in the latest NFCA Top 25 Poll — finally got to the Cardinals' left-hander, as Kelsey Kittleson laced a one-out home run to left to give Luther all the runs it would need. Luther would add another run in the top of the seventh on an RBI double by pinch-hitter Erin Crist, and Lambert set the Cardinals down in order in their final at bat to complete the sweep.
The Cardinals, who fall to 9-17 overall, return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Tuesday, when they travel to St. Paul, Minn., for a 4 p.m. doubleheader against Hamline.
