WINONA, Minn. — The first game of the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Saint Benedict Wednesday proved to be a game of Follow the Leader.
The Cardinals scored three runs in the bottom of the second—Saint Benedict answered with three runs in the top of the third.
Saint Mary's plated a solo run in the bottom of the third—only to have the Blazers follow suit with a single run in the top of the fourth.
Fortunately, the Blazers could not match the Cardinals' five-run fifth, as Saint Mary's pulled away for a 9-5 Game 1 victory at the Saint Mary's Field.
It was the Blazers who took advantage of a big inning, as Saint Benedict scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning—and held off a Saint Mary's seventh-inning rally—to win the nightcap 5-3 to earn the conference split.
Saint Mary's jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second, getting one-out singles by
Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) and
Tessa Kuschke (Grant, Minn.), and, after
Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.) flew out,
Toni Hunsinger (Farmington, Minn.) delivered an RBI double and
Stanzy Snyder (Johnston, Iowa) followed with a two-out two-bagger.
Saint Benedict used some timely hitting to pull even, scoring three times with two outs in the top of the third. Saint Mary's regained its lead, 4-3, on a one-out RBI single by
Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) in its half of the third, only to have CSB plate its fourth run of the game on a lead-off home run by Maddie Mikolich in the fourth.
The Cardinals gave starting pitcher
Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) some breathing room in the bottom of the fifth, taking advantage of three Saint Benedict errors—not to mention RBI singles from
Mariah Harper (Schaumburg, Ill.), Hunsinger, and Betzold, and a run-scoring double from Aldrich—to score five times and seal their second conference win of the season.
Snyder, Kuschke, and Hunsinger each had two hits to pace the Cardinals' 12-hit attack in the opener, while Snyder and Hunsinger also drove in two runs apiece. Betzold picked up the pitching win—her ninth of the season—allowing five runs on six hits.
Saint Mary's held the upper hand early in Game 2, scoring single runs in the second and third innings—on RBI singles from Hunsinger and Betzold—to take a 2-1 advantage.
Saint Benedict, however, wasn't about to go down without a fight, tying the game with a run in the sixth, then erupting for three more runs in the top of the seventh to take a 5-2 advantage.
The Cardinals threatened in their half of the seventh, getting a two-out, run-scoring single from Kuschke, but that was as close as they would get.
Betzold was a perfect 4-for-4 from the plate, with Borawski chipping in two hits in four at-bats. The Cardinal duo accounted for six of the team's 10 hits in Game 2.
The Cardinals (2-2 MIAC, 13-7 overall) play a pair of conference doubleheaders this weekend, heading to Arden Hills, Minn., for a 1 p.m. DH against Bethel on Saturday, before returning home to entertain St. Thomas in a 1 p.m. twinbill Sunday at the Saint Mary's Field.
