By
Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — "Walk" was the operative word for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team in the opening game of its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Augsburg Saturday afternoon.
Which proved to be both good (early) and bad (late) for Cardinal coach
Jen Miller.
In the fourth inning, the Cardinals scored their first two runs via a pair of bases-loaded walks—erasing a 2-0 Augsburg advantage.
And in the bottom of the ninth, Augsburg's Katie Parker laced a one-out, walk-off single to break a 3-3 deadlock and lift the Auggies to a 4-3 victory at Edor Nelson Field.
There would be no "walking" to a Game 2 victory for Saint Mary's. Instead, the Cardinals would take advantage of five Augsburg errors to post a 4-1 victory and earn a split in the teams' conference doubleheader.
Augsburg jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opener, scoring single runs in each of its first two at-bats, only to have Saint Mary's draw even—thanks to bases-loaded walks to
Tara Nikolich (Chicago, Ill.) and
Amber Trendle (Chicago, Ill.).
Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.) gave Saint Mary's its first lead of the day with an RBI single in the sixth, scoring
Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn.), who had opened the inning with an infield single and moved to second on an Augsburg error.
The Cardinals held that one-run advantage until the bottom of the seventh, when Samantha Anderson belted a two-out single to knot the game at 3-3—and send it to extra innings, where Parker gave the Auggies the win with her ninth-inning single.
Saint Mary's finished Game 1 with eight hits, led by Gudmundson, who went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Aldrich, Trendle,
Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn.),
Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.), and
Hallie Schmeling (Onalaska, Wis.) all chipped in one hit each.
The two teams traded first-inning runs in the nightcap—Saint Mary's coming on an infield single by
Shayley Vesel (Austin, Minn.) to plate Schultz, who opened the game with a double.
Saint Mary's added its second run—thanks to an Augsburg error—and then took advantage of three fifth-inning Auggie miscues to score two more runs to put the game out of reach.
Vesel posted her second collegiate three-hit game—going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored—to lead the way for the Cardinals in Game 2. Schultz chipped in two doubles in four at-bats and scored two runs, while
Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.) also posted a pair of hits.
Amber Chow (West St. Paul, Minn.) picked up the pitching win, allowing just one run on four hits, while striking out five in tossing a complete game.
The Cardinals (5-7 MIAC, 11-17 overall) are right back in action on Sunday, returning home to the Saint Mary's Field for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader against St. Catherine.
