NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team went to both ends of the spectrum to sweep Carleton in the teams' Minnesota Intecollegiate Athletic Conference opener Tuesday afternoon.
 
Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) nearly single-handedly took care of the Knights in Game 1, as the sophomore drove in two of  the team's four runs with a first-inning home run—the first of her collegiate career—while also tossing a complete-game five-hitter as Saint Mary's held off a late Carleton rally to edge the Knights 4-3.
 
There would be no nailbiting in the second game, however, as the Cardinals erupted for 10 runs on 18 hits en route to a 14-5, six-inning victory.
 
The Cardinals didn't waste any time grabbing the early lead in the opener, as Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) led off the first inning with a single, was sacrificed to second and scored on Betzold's one-out bomb to left field.
 
Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the Cardinal fourth inning and scored on Raske's one-out triple. An RBI groundout by Stanzy Snyder (Johnston, Iowa) pushed the Saint Mary's lead to 4-0.
 
Carleton made things interesting in the sixth, foiling Betzold's shutout bid by scoring three times, but the sophomore right-hander mowed down the Knights down in order in the seventh to collect the complete-game victory.
 
Raske finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, while Snyder, Betzold, Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) and Mariah Harper (Schaumburg, Ill.) accounted for the Cardinals' other four opening-game hits.
 
Saint Mary's spotted the Knights a 2-0 first-inning lead in the nightcap, but quickly erased it in the second, scoring five times—highlighted by Raske's three-run, two-out home run to deep left to give the Cardinals a 5-2 advantage.
 
Carleton cut the Saint Mary's lead to 5-3 with an unearned run in the bottom of the second, but the Cardinals answered, getting an RBI double from Aldrich and a run-scoring sacrifice fly from Raske in the third to push the lead back to four, 7-3.
 
Aldrich laced her third hit in as many at-bats—and second double of the game—to open the fifth, and scored on a run-scoring single by Harper. Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) delivered a two-run single to complete the Cardinals' three-run fifth and make it a 10-3 Saint Mary's advantage.
 
After surrendering a solo run in the bottom of the fifth, the Cardinals put the game out of reach with four more runs—all with two outs—in the sixth to ice the conference-opening sweep.
 
Aldrich and Opsahl both collected three hits to ignite Saint Mary's 18-hit Game 2 attack, while Snyder, Betzold, Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) and Sam Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) all chipped in two hits. Opsahl also drove in a team-high five runs, while Raske finished 1-for-2 with three runs scored and four RBIs, while
 
Betzold collected her second pitching win of the afternoon in the nightcap, allowing three runs on four hits in four innings of work. Katie Homan (North Mankato, Minn.) pitched the finall two innings, surrendering two runs on five hits.
 
The Cardinals (2-0 MIAC, 8-6 overall) return home on Thursday, hosting Bethel in a 3:30 p.m. conference doubleheader at Saint Mary's Field.