EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Scoring early or scoring late, it didn't seem to make any difference for the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team — either way resulted in the same outcome.
The Cardinals scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning, but their late-game rally came up two runs short in a 5-3, Game 1 loss to UW-Eau Claire in their nonconference doubleheader Wednesday afternoon.
SMU got things going earlier in the nightcap, scoring a single run in the top of the first inning. That, however, would be the only run the Cardinals would score, as the Blugolds scored nine unanswered runs to complete the sweep, 9-1.
The Blugolds got out to a quick start, scoring single runs in the first and second innings, before pushing their lead to 4-0 with a two-run third. UW-EC added another run in the fifth, before the Cardinals — with one swing of the bat — made things interesting in the top of the sixth.
Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) delivered a two-out, bases-clearing three-run double to right-center to make it a 5-3 game, but the SMU freshman was stranded when
Hanna Schmitt (Rosemount, Minn.) was called out on strikes to end the threat.
Stenseth went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs in the opener, while Schmitt chipped in a pair of hits to pace the Cardinals' 10-hit attack.
SMU's bats weren't nearly as active in the second game, as the Cardinals managed just four hits — two coming in the first inning when they scored their only run. Stenseth was again in the center of the action, lacing a one-out double, moving to third on a Schmitt groundout and scoring on
Kellie Simons' (Richfield, Minn.) RBI single.
That, however, would be the extent of SMU's offense, as Blugold pitcher Jess Hegseth would allow the Cardinals just two more hits — a Stenseth single in the third and a Schmitt single in the fifth — while walking just one and striking out out three en route to the complete-game win.
The Cardinals, who fall to 3-9 overall, are back in action on Thursday, hosting St. Olaf in a 4 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at SMU Field.
