Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 GameDay Preview

CLERMONT, Fla. — It's hard to tell if The College of New Jersey holds a grudge, but the last time the Lions met Saint Mary's University on the fastpitch softball diamond, it was in 2000 — and the Cardinals routed TCNJ 7-0 during their NCAA Division III national championship run.

Wednesday morning, TCNJ extracted a bit of revenge, as the Lions held SMU to one hit in dealing the Cardinals an 8-0, five-inning nonconference setback.

Smarting from their first spring trip loss of the season, the Cardinals took out their frustrations on their second opponent of the day, Muhlenberg, as SMU routed the Mules 9-0 in five innings.

The Cardinals, coming off 2-1 and 12-3 wins over Lebanon Valley on Tuesday, proved to be no match for Lions' pitcher Lauren Fitzsimmons, who allowed just three baserunners — two on TCNJ errors and the other a third-inning double by SMU's Kristen Thelen.

While Fitzsimmons was frustrating SMU hitters, striking out 10 of the 18 batters she faced, the Lions' offense was hitting on all cylinders. TCNJ scored once in the first, four times in the second, once in the third and twice in the fifth en en route to their fourth win in five games.

SMU rebounded quickly, scoring all the runs it would need in the top of the first inning against Muhlenberg. The Cardinals would score another run in the third, two more in the fourth, then put the game out of reach with a four-run fifth.

Kayla Peterson (Lewiston, Minn.) limited Muhlenberg to just two hits — a second-inning double and a fourth-inning single — while walking two in winning her third game of the season.

After being held to just one hit against TCNJ, SMU banged out 16 hits against the Mules, with Anna Ramboldt (Goodhue, Minn.) lead the charge, going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.), Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.), Paige Carter (Rosemount, Min.), Michelle Carne (Escanaba, Mich.), Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Melanie Hamilton (Homewood, Ill.) all chipped in two hits, while Carter finished with a team-leading three RBIs.

The Cardinals (3-3 overall) are off on Wednesday, before returning to action with nonconference games against Emerson College (1 p.m., CST) and Bellevue University (3 p.m., CST) on Friday.