RIVER FALLS, Wis. — After doing everything they could to earn a berth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament — winning their last four contests, all in convincing fashion — only to come up a tie-breaker short, Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball coach
Jen Miller wasn't sure what to expect from her Cardinals when they closed out their season with a nonconference doubleheader at UW-River Falls.
What she got was everything the Cardinals had.
Unfortunately, the softball gods were not looking out for the Cardinals Tuesday, as SMU dropped a heartbreaking, 9-8, eight-inning decision to the Falcons in the opener — a game in which SMU scored four runs in the top of the eighth, only to surrender five in the bottom half of the inning. That loss took all the wind out of the Cardinals' sails, as SMU's tank hit empty in the nightcap, falling 8-0.
“It was just one of those days,” said Miller. “We played very well in the first game and appeared to have (UW-River Falls) right where we wanted them when we scored those four runs (in the top of the eighth). Then we gave up five in the bottom (of the eighth).
“It's a tough way to close out the season, but everyone gave everything they had,” Miller added. “After Sunday (when SMU swept Carleton, only to lose out on a playoff berth when St. Olaf beat Augsburg), they could have easily thrown in the towel today, but they didn't — they played their hearts out.”
UW-River Falls jumped out to a 3-0 lead with single runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings, before SMU's bats came to life, scoring three times in the sixth — two on a
Joanna Mangan (Chicago, Ill.) double — to knot the game at 3-3.
The Falcons regained the lead with their fourth one-run inning in the bottom of the sixth, but again SMU responded, getting a lead-off home run by
Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) to send the game into extra innings.
And what a wild extra inning it turned out to be.
The Cardinals loaded the bases with one out, and
Katy Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) emptied them, drilling first collegiate grand slam to give SMU what appeared to be a commanding 8-4 advantage.
The Falcons quickly showed SMU, however, that things aren't always as they appear, getting an RBI single by Hayley Buchanan and a three-run home run from Ashley Goettl to tie the game at 8-8. Two outs later, Nicole Lubahn delivered the knockout blow, driving in the game-winning run with a single to center.
After banging out 14 hits in the opener — including a 3-for-5 effort from
Hanna Schmitt (Rosemount, Minn.) and a 2-for-5, 4-RBI performance from Gannon — the Cardinals managed just four hits, all singles, in the six-inning nightcap.
UW-River Falls scored in each of its first four at-bats — twice in the first, once in the second, twice in the third and twice in the fourth — before ending the game with a solo run in the bottom of the sixth.
The Cardinals close out the season with a 16-24 overall record, while UW-River Falls improves to 24-14 heading into Friday's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.
