Box Score | MIAC Tournament Preview

ARDEN HILLS, Minn.-- After falling to Gustavus-Adolphus in its first game of the MIAC tournament the Saint Mary's University softball team found itself in a win or go home situation.

Thanks to Joanna Mangan (Chicago, Ill.) and the rest of the Cardinals, SMU will live to fight another day.

Mangan went 2-for-3 with two key RBI to lift the Cardinals to a 7-4 victory over Hamline in their second game of the MIAC tournament on Friday night at Bethel University's Ona Orth Field.

Saint Mary's will get a re-match will Gustavus on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at the University of St. Thomas.

Despite the four run victory, SMU found themselves behind 3-1 going into the fourth inning.

Mallory Betzold (Farmington, Minn.), Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.), and Michelle Carne (Escanaba, Mich.) led off the bottom of the fourth with three straight singles. Then, with two outs, Kellie Simons (Richfield, Minn.) laced a two-out single, scoring two and tying the game at three.

That's when Mangan came up with her first big hit of the game, as she singled, scoring Carne, and giving the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.

Mangan struck again in the bottom of the sixth inning, when she singled home Breanna Olson (Byron, Minn.) to give SMU some insurance. The Cardinals went on to score two more times in the inning.

The Pipers scored one run in the top of the seventh, but SMU pitcher Kayla Peterson stranded two runners on base.

Peterson went the distance striking out five batters.