WINONA, Minn. — Talk about a daunting home opener.
As if facing Luther—seventh-ranked team in the country—wasn't tough enough for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team, the Cardinals had to a face a Norse team that was coming into Tuesday's nonconference doubleheader riding a 13-game winning streak.
And, no matter how hard the Cardinals tried, they could no keep that Norse winning streak from climbing to 15 straight, as Luther limited Saint Mary's to a single run in both games in cruising to a 5-1, 4-1 sweep at the Saint Mary's Field.
The Cardinals struck first in the opener, getting an RBI double from
Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) in the bottom of the second inning.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, by the time they scored their second run of the afternoon—on a
Mariah Harper (Schaumburg, Ill.) home run in the fifth inning of Game 2—Luther had plated nine unanswered runs.
The Norse scored four of their five Game 1 runs in the fourth inning—and added a single run in the seventh en route to the 5-1 win—before plating a pair of runs in both the third and fourth innings of their 4-1 Game 2 victory.
Betzold carried the hot bat for Saint Mary's in the opener, going 3-for-4 to account for three of the Cardinals' five hits, while Harper collected the team's only two hits in the nightcap.
The Cardinals (11-4 overall) are back in action on Saturday at the Saint Mary's Field, hosting St. Catherine in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for both teams. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
