By
DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
WINONA, Minn. — Scoring the game's first run — or runs — did not bode well for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota and Gustavus fastpitch softball teams Saturday.
Gustavus scored first in the opener — only to have Saint Mary's score five of the next six runs, as the Cardinals rallied for the 5-4, Game 1 victory.
In the nightcap, the Cardinals erupted for five runs in their first at-bat — only to have the Gusties take a play out of SMU's Game 1 playbook, scoring seven unanswered runs in dropping Saint Mary's 7-5 and earn the split in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference twinbill at the Saint Mary's Field.
Gustavus loaded the bases with one out in the top of the first — taking advantage of an infield single and a pair of Cardinal fielding errors — but SMU starter
Amber Chow (West St. Paul, Minn.) recorded a pair of strikeouts to get out of the jam.
The Gusties got to Chow for a single run in the top of the second, and maintained that one-run advantage into the fourth.
Saint Mary's loaded the bases with one out in the fourth on an error, a walk and a hit batter — and chased Gustie starter Ashley Neuenfeldt in the process. GAC reliever Aly Freeman induced
DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.) to strike out for the second out, but pinch-hitter
Tara Nikolich (Chicago, Ill.) laced a single to left, scoring Chow and
Amy Kulaga (Riverside, Ill.) to give Saint Mary's a 2-1 lead.
The Gusties pulled even in the fifth, taking advantage of a Cardinal fielding error to plate their second run of the game and knot the game at 2-2.
The game did not remain tied for long, however, as Saint Mary's got a one-out double from Justin Schultz (Winona, Minn.) — her second two-bagger of the afternoon — and an RBI single off the bat of
Erin Sullivan (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) to regain the lead, 3-2.
Baab singled, was sacrificed to second, and, after a
Hallie Schmeling (Onalaska, Wis.) walk,
Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn.) singled to load the bases for Schultz, who lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Baab, while Schmeling scored the second run of the inning on a Gustavus throwing error.
Chow set down the first two Gustie batters she faced in the seventh, but surrendered a two-out single, and Neuenfeldt belted a two-run home run to left to cut the lead to one, 5-4. After surrendering a two-out double to Freeman to put the tying run on second, Chow got Kenzie Skuza to fly out to left to end the threat.
Schultz finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Gudmundson, Sullivan, Chow, Baab,
Roni Stevens (Delano, Minn.), and Nikolich picked up Saint Mary's other seven hits. Chow went the distance in the pitcher's circle, allowing four runs on six hits, while striking out three.
The Cardinals did not waste any time getting on the board in Game 2, scoring three times in their first at-bat. Schmeling and Stevens opened the inning with singles and moved to second and third on a Schultz groundout. Chow reached on a fielding error by GAC's Ashley Beise, allowing Schmeling to score the game's first run, while Stevens made it 2-0, scoring on a wild pitch, and Chow added Saint Mary's third run of the inning, scoring on a single by Nikolich.
And the Cardinals weren't finished, as
Amber Trendle (Chicago, Ill.) laced a two-run double to deep left to score both Nikolich and Kulaga — who had reached on Gustavus' second error of the inning — to push the lead to 5-0.
Gustavus got one run back in the second when Skuza launched GAC's second home run of the afternoon, a solo shot to deep center, before adding two in the third, three more in the fourth — including home run No. 3 of the day, a two-run shot by Aly Freeman — and one in the fifth to seal the win, and the conference-opening split.
Chow finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored to pace the Cardinals' eight-hit offensive attack, with Nikolich, Trendle, Baab, Schmeling,
Roni Stevens (Delano, Minn.), and
Marissa Kleckler (Oregon, Wis.) accounting for the other six hits.
The Cardinals (1-1 MIAC 5-11 overall) are right back in action — and right back at the Saint Mary's Field — on Sunday, hosting St. Olaf in a conference doubleheader. First pitch in Game 1 is set for 1 p.m.
