By
DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
ROCHESTER, Minn. — The temperatures outside may have finally started to warm up, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team's bats were mired in a deep freeze Friday afternoon.
Saint Mary's managed just five hits against a pair of Luther pitchers, as the Norse dealt the Cardinals 5-0 and 3-2 setbacks at the RCTC Dome.
The Norse came out swinging in the opener, kicking off the game with three straight hits — sandwiching a pair of doubles around a single — and adding back-to-back sacrifice flies to plate three runs in their first at-bat.
Luther would take advantage a Cardinal error to score an unearned run in the second to push its advantage to 4-0 — and threatened to add more in the fourth, putting a pair of runners on via Saint Mary's errors, but SMU starter
Amber Chow (West St. Paul, Minn.) induced an inning-ending fly out to left to keep it a four-run deficit.
Saint Mary's finally picked up their first hit of the afternoon off Luther starter Samantha Bratland in the bottom of the fourth, when
Hallie Schmeling (Onalaska, Wis.) belted one-out single to left. Following a fly ball out by
Tara Nikolich (Chicago, Ill.), Schmeling stole second, but was stranded when Bratland induced Chow to pop-out to second to thwart the threat.
The Cardinals kicked off the fifth inning with a lead-off single by
Marissa Kleckler (Oregon, Wis.), but a pop-out and back-to-back strikeouts left Kleckler stranded — and left the Cardinals staring at a 4-0 deficit.
Following a scoreless sixth, Luther pushed its lead to 5-0 on a two-out single by Sierra Freeland in the top of the seventh, and Bratland set the Cardinals down in order in the bottom of the inning to secure the Norse shutout.
After allowing three straight hits to open the game, and giving up hits to four of Luther's first seven batters, Chow settled down in the pitcher's circle, holding the high-powered Norse to just one run on four hits over the final five innings.
The Norse picked up right where they left off in Game 2, parlaying three hits and a sacrifice fly into a pair of runs to grab an early 2-0 cushion.
And, unfortunately, Game 2 was eerily similar to Game 1 for the Cardinals, as well.
Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn.) led off the game for the Cardinals with a single, before Luther starter Kendra Cooper retired 12 straight — a streak that came to an end with when the freshman hit Kleckler with a pitch to open the fifth.
And the Cardinals made Cooper pay for that hit batsman. Following a pair of fielder's choice outs, and a walk to
Amy Kulaga (Riverside, Ill.),
Erin Sullivan (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) laced her first collegiate hit — a two-run double to center — to pull Saint Mary's even, 2-2.
Luther regained the lead in the sixth. Abby Pender opened the frame with a leadoff, infield single and Cooper followed with a single to left. The duo were sacrificed to second and third — chasing Cardinal starter
Amber Trendle (Chicago, Ill.) — and Annie See welcomed reliever
Signey Stoesz (Mountain Lake, Minn.) with a run-scoring fly to deep center to give the Norse a 3-2 lead.
Stoesz stole a page from Sullivan's offensive book in the top of the seventh, doubling to right for her first collegiate hit. Stoesz was sacrificed to third, but Cooper wiggled out of the jam with back-to-back strikeouts.
The Cardinals (4-8 overall) are back in action on March 27, weather permitting, as they head to La Crosse, Wis., for a pair of nonconference games against UW-La Crosse
