Game 1 Box | Game 2 Box | GameDay Preview

ST. PETER, Minn. — With four games remaining in the conference season, the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team was desperately clinging to the fourth and final Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament berth.

With two games left, the Cardinals' grip around that elusive post-season berth tightened ever so slightly.

Thanks to Monday's split in their MIAC doubleheader against second-place Gustavus — the Cardinals opened with a 4-1 win, then fell in the nightcap 5-0 — SMU heads into Tuesday's final doubleheader against Carleton in the driver's seat in its quest for its first conference tournament berth since 2007.

“We hold our (tournament) fate in our own hands,” SMU coach Jen Miller said after Monday's split vs. Gustavus. “Getting a split (against Gustavus) was a huge step in the right direction. Now, if we can go out and take care of business (Tuesday against Carleton), we'll still be playing this weekend.”

Here's how the playoff picture shapes up:

The Cardinals improved to 13-7 in conference play with Monday's split and are sitting in fourth place in the conference standings, one win ahead of Hamline (12-8) and three wins in front of Saint Benedict (10-8). The Pipers close out their conference season on Tuesday at St. Olaf (9-9), while Saint Benedict still has MIAC doubleheaders against Macalester (1-19) and Gustavus (16-3-1) in the next two days.

St. Thomas (20-0) and Gustavus are already the tournament's top two seeds, while Bethel (14-8) currently holds the No. 3 spot, but their MIAC schedule is complete. If SMU and Bethel end the season tied, the Royals hold the tiebreaker, having swept the Cardinals earlier this season. A sweep of Carleton Tuesday would give SMU the No. 3 seed, while a split would mostly likely be enough to get the Cardinals into the tournament, but would bring several tiebreakers into the mix.

“We just need to go out and play one game at a time,” said Miller, whose team picked up its 20th win of the season in the opener, marking the first time the Cardinals have won 20 or more games since the 2007 season. “We've got to control the controlables, and that's how we play — we can't worry about anything else.

“If we go out and play the way we are capable, everything else will take care of itself.”

The Cardinals certainly played up to their capabilities in the opener against Gustavus on Monday, as SMU scored single runs in the first, third, fourth and seventh innings, while the Gusties broke up Kayla Peterson's (Lewiston, Minn.) with a single run in the bottom of the seventh.

Joanna Mangan (Chicago, Ill.) fueled the Cardinals' six-hit offensive attack in the opener, going 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.), Mallory Betzold (Farmington, Minn.), Katy Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) and Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) all had one hit in the opener.

Peterson tossed a complete-game six-hitter to earn the win on the mound for SMU in Game 1. She walked three and struck out three in winning for the fourth time in seven starts.

It was the Gusties who raced out to the early lead in the nightcap. After working out of a second-and-third, one-out jam in the Cardinals' top of the first, GAC scored twice in the bottom of the first and twice more in the second to take control early. Gustavus would add another run in the fifth, while GAC starter Kate Rentschler held SMU to just five Game 2 hits — two of which came in the seventh, when SMU got back-to-back two-out hits from Kellie Simons (Richfield, Minn.) and Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn.). Rentschler got Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) to pop out, however, ending the threat and earning the Gusties the split.

Gannon collected two of SMU's five hits, while Simons, Thelen and Betzold accounted for the other three. Betzold suffered the pitching loss, allowing five runs on nine hits, while striking out four in five innings. Angie Bates (Roselle, Ill.) pitched a perfect scoreless sixth with one strikeout for the Cardinals.

Tuesday's regular-season finale against Carleton will also be the final collegiate home games for SMU seniors Simons, Gannon, Betzold and Mangan. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 4 p.m. at the SMU Field.