CLERMONT, Fla. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team, mired in a three-game losing streak, was in dire need of a pick-me up when the Cardinals took the field against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Wednesday.
 
Which is exactly what Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) provided.
 
Birkhauser delivered a lead-off home run in the top of the first inning—one of two extra-base hits for the Saint Mary's junior—and the Cardinals never looked back, snapping that three-game slide with a 3-0 victory over the Fightin' Engineers.
 
The Cardinals once again plated a solo run in the first inning in their second game of the day against Wartburg.
 
Unfortunately, this time around the Knights had already plated two runs in the top half of the first—and plated the game-winning run in the fourth in dealing the Cardinals a 3-2 setback.
 
The Cardinals would cling to their 1-0 lead over Rose-Hulman into the fifth inning, when Quinncy Zupko (Wyoming, Minn.) would give starting pitcher Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) a little breathing room with a two-out, two-run single to push the Saint Mary's advantage to 3-0.
 
Betzold was in complete control in the pitcher's circle, tossing a complete-game shutout. The senior right-hander scattered six hits, while walking two and striking out three.
 
Betzold also did her part at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double, while Birkhauser finished 2-for-3. Zupko, Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.), Haley Williams (Littleton, Colo.), Haley Vanourney (Marion, Iowa), and Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) accounted for the Cardinals' other five hits against Rose-Hulman.
 
Betzold was again on the mound in the nightcap, and Wartburg gave her a rude welcome, grabbing a 2-0 lead after one-half inning.
 
But Betzold helped in own cause in Saint Mary's half of the first, delivering a run-scoring double to cut the deficit to 2-1—and the Cardinals parlayed three hits into another run in the bottom of the second to knot the game at 2-2.
 
That, however, would be the last time coach Jen Miller would hear from her offense, as the Cardinals managed just four hits—and no runs—over the final five innings.
 
Wartburg, meanwhile, broke the 2-2 deadlock in the fourth, scoring the game-winning run on a one-out RBI groundout.
 
Birkhauser led the Cardinals' nine-hit attack, going 3-for-4, while Aldrich added a pair of hits, and Betzold, Borawski, Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.), and Alexa Diteman (Burnsville, Minn.) all had one hit each.
 
Betzold suffered the pitching loss, tossing her second complete game of the day. She allowed three runs on seven hits, while walking four and striking out six.
 
The Cardinals (2-3 overall) are right back in action on Thursday, squaring off against Otterbein at 9 a.m. (EST), followed by a 2 p.m. matchup against Neumann.