CLERMONT, Fla. — If Monday's nonconference game against Otterbein were a sprint, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team would have been the runaway winner in its nonconference game against Otterbein.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their seven-inning spring trip matchup against Otterbein was more of a marathon.
Saint Mary's scored three of its four runs in the second inning, while Otterbein methodically plated runs in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings in handing the Cardinals a 5-4 setback.
The Cardinals gave up runs in bunches in their second game of the afternoon, as Hanover used a three-run third and two-run sixth to hand Saint Mary's a 6-2 setback.
The Cardinals grabbed an early 3-1 lead in their first game of the day against Otterbein, getting a bases-loaded RBI walk by
Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) and a two-out, two-run single from
Haley Williams (Littleton, Colo.).
Otterbein answered with a pair of runs in the top of the third, and added single runs in the fourth and fifth, while Saint Mary's could only manage a fourth-inning RBI single by
Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.).
Williams accounted for two of the Cardinals' six hits against Otterbein, while Betzold,
Haley Vanourney (Marion, Iowa),
Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.), and
Quinncy Zupko (Wyoming, Minn.) all chipped in one hit.
Betzold suffered the pitching loss, tossing a complete-game nine-hitter. She walked three and struck out three, surrendering just four earned runs.
Hanover jumped out in front in its first at-bat in the Cardinals' second game of the day, but Saint Mary's answered with a solo run—on an Aldrich double—but the Panthers were just getting warmed up, pushing their lead to 4-1 with three runs in the third.
The Cardinals cut the deficit to two, 4-2, on an Aldrich single, but that was as close they would get, as Hanover scored twice in the bottom of the sixth, and set Saint Mary's down in order in the top of the seventh to ice the win.
Vanourney and Aldrich each collected two hits to account for four of the Cardinals' six hits against Hanover. Betzold suffered the pitching loss, allowing four runs on five hits in four innings.
Amber Trendle (Chicago, Ill.) pitched the final two inning, surrendering a run on two hits.
The Cardinals (1-3 overall) are now off until Wednesday, when they square off against Rose-Hulman (11:30 a.m.) and Wartburg (2 p.m.).
