Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | GameDay Preview

CLERMONT, Fla. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team, fresh off their off-day of fun and sun on Thursday, was all business on Friday, as the Cardinals opened the day with a hard-fought, 7-6 win over Emerson.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, business wasn't as good in Game 2, as Bellevue University handed SMU a 4-2 setback.

After trading first-inning runs against Emerson, the Cardinals erupted for three runs in the second, before surrendering four unanswered runs — including three in the top of the fourth — to fall behind 4-3.

The deficit didn't last long, however, as SMU plated its second three-run inning of the game in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead for good.

Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.) and Anna Ramboldt (Goodhue, Minn.) each had two hits and a pair of RBIs to lead the Cardinals' offense. Kayla Peterson (Lewiston, Minn.) picked up her fourth pitching win of the season, while Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) worked the final 1 2/3 innings to collegiate her first collegiate save.

Bellevue jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a single run in the bottom of the first, two more in the third and another in the fourth. SMU scored singles run in the fifth and sixth, but could get no close, as the Cardinals had their two-game winning streak snapped.

Carter collected two of SMU's five hits in their loss to Bellevue, as the junior belted a pair of doubles in three at-bats. Ramboldt, Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Melanie Hamilton (Homewood, Ill.) recorded SMU's other three hits, with Stenseth and Hamilton also picking up doubles.

The Cardinals (4-4 overall) close out their spring trip on Saturday, squaring off against Bethany College (9:30 a.m. CST) and Elizabethtown (11 a.m. CST).