By
Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team scored more runs in the fifth inning of the opening game of Thursday's nonconference doubleheader against UW-River Falls as the Cardinals had plated in both games against UW-La Crosse two days earlier—combined.
The Cardinals, coming off 3-0 and 11-3 losses to UW-La Crosse on Tuesday, erupted for five, fifth-inning runs—and scored nine times—in the opener against the Falcons at Saint Mary's Field.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, UW-River Falls had its offense cranked into high gear as well, erupting four a pair of four-run innings—while also adding single runs in the fifth and sixth—in dealing Saint Mary's a 10-9 setback.
The Cardinals put together a couple of big innings in the nightcap—and this time they made it stand up, scoring three runs in both the third and fifth innings in beating the Falcons 6-3 to earn the nonconference split.
After a pair of scoreless innings, things began to heat up in the opener.
Saint Mary's scored first on a
Tara Nikolich (Chicago, Ill.) RBI double in the top of the third, only to have UW-River Falls answer with back-to-back four runs innings in the fourth and fifth to grab an 8-1 advantage.
An advantage that dwindled to two after the Cardinals' were done batting in the fifth.
Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) got the Cardinals' offense rolling in the fifth, lacing her second home run of the season—a two-run shot—while
Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.) and
Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn.) added RBI singles and
Signey Stoesz (Mountain Lake, Minn.) delivered a run-scoring ground out to make it an 8-6 Falcon lead.
UW-River Falls plated a run in its half of the sixth, but the Cardinals weren't done, clawing within one, 9-8—thanks to a bases-loaded walk to Aldrich and a fielder's choice ground out by
Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.).
Again the Falcons answered with a solo run in the bottom of the sixth, only to have Saint Mary's again cut the deficit to one on a two-out single by Birkhauser, but UW-River Falls' Payton Speckel got Nikolich to strike out to end the threat—and the game.
Birkhauser led the Cardinals' 13-hit Game 1 attack, going 4-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored, while Gudmundson added a 3-for-5 effort, and Nikolich, and
Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn.) each chipped in two hits.
The start to Game 2 was eerily similar to Game 1, with neither team scoring in their first two at-bats—and then the offenses once again came to life.
Saint Mary's kicked things off with a three-run third inning—highlighted by an RBI single by Nikolich and a two-run single by Borawski—only to have the Falcons answer with a three-run inning of their own in the bottom of the fourth to knot the game at 3-3.
The Cardinals recorded their second three-run inning of the game in the fifth, thanks to a two-out RBI double to left by Borawski, followed by a clutch, two-run single to left-center by
Amber Chow (West St. Paul, Minn.) to put Saint Mary's back on top, 6-3.
Birkhauser collected three more hits in the second game to finish the day 7-for-8. Borawski also finished with three hits—and drove in three runs—in Game 2, while also driving in three runs, with Schultz, Aldrich, and
Haley Vanourney (Marion, Iowa) all chipping in two hits.
Chow (3-6) went the distance in the pitcher's circle to record the Game 2 win, allowing three runs on nine hits, striking out three and not walking a batter.
The Cardinals (6-8 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against St. Olaf. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.
