WINONA, Minn. —
Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) was good in the pitcher's circle for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team Sunday afternoon.
Problem was, St. Olaf's Julie Graf was even better.
While Betzold was limiting the Oles to just three runs on eight hits, Graf was virtually untouchable—allowing just three Cardinal hits—in handing Saint Mary's a 3-0 setback in Game 1 of the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at Saint Mary's Field.
The Oles may have ridden the right arm of Graf to the Game 1 win, but it was their bats that did all the damage in the nightcap, as St. Olaf erupted for three home runs—a solo shot in the fourth, a two-run blast in the fifth, and a three-run bomb in the sixth—to rally for a 6-5 victory and the conference sweep.
St. Olaf scored all three of its runs in the third inning in Game 1, as Kristina Lodahl laced an RBI double and Emily Carr launched a two-run triple.
And three runs was more than enough for Graf, who set the Cardinals down in order through the first four innings, before
Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) foiled the freshman's perfect game with a lead-off, fifth-inning single.
Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) followed with another single, but the Cardinals could not scratch across a run.
The Cardinals put a pair of runners on again in the sixth—on a one-out walk by
Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) and a
Haley Vanourney (Marion, Iowa) single. But again the Cardinals came up empty, as Graf struck out Betzold and got Opsahl to ground out to end the threat.
Saint Mary's did not waste any time breaking the ice in the nightcap, getting four first-inning hits—all with two outs—including a bases-loaded, RBI single by
Jordyn Keprios (Farmington, Minn.) to give the Cardinals a quick 1-0 lead.
And the Cardinals were just getting warmed up.
Saint Mary's pushed its lead to 4-0 with three runs in the third. Betzold started the rally with a one-out single, moved to third on an Opsahl double, and scored on a wild pitch. Opsahl scored the Cardinals' second run of the inning on a Borawski sacrifice fly, and, after a single by Keprios and a walk to
Alexa Diteman (Burnsville, Minn.),
Amber Trendle (Chicago, Ill.) delivered an RBI single to score Keprios from second and give the Cardinals a commanding 4-0 advantage.
Trendle, who did not allow a base runner through the first three innings, had her no-hit bid snapped in the fourth, when Emily Carr blasted a two-out home run to cut the Saint Mary's lead to 4-1.
The Oles whittled that three-run Cardinal cushion down to one in the top of the fifth, getting their second home run of the game—this one a two-run shot by Alison Curry—to make it 4-3, but the Cardinals answered in their half of the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Keprios and Diteman to push the lead back to 5-3.
St. Olaf flexed its muscles once more in the sixth, as Jessica Bentley launched the third home run in as many innings—a towering three-run blast that gave the Oles their first lead of the game, 6-5.
And the Cardinals had run out of answers, managing just a Borawski seventh-inning single in their final two at-bats.
Keprios went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored to fuel the Cardinals' 12-hit Game 2 offensive attack, while Betzold, Opsahl, and Borawski all finished with two hits.
The Cardinals (1-8 MIAC, 7-18 overall) return home to the Saint Mary's Field on Thursday, as Saint Mary's entertains Gustavus in a 3:30 p.m. conference doubleheader.
