By
DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
WINONA, Minn. — It was quality over quantity for the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team in the opening game of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader Wednesday.
After being no-hit through the first four innings, the Cardinals collected both of their Game 1 hits in a four-run fifth, as Saint Mary's knocked off the Auggies' 4-1.
Hits — and runs — were a dime a dozen in the nightcap, as the two teams combined for 12 runs and 17 hits.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it was the Auggies who were able to make the most of their hits, scoring two runs in the first, three in the fourth, and two more in the sixth — and held off a furious Saint Mary's late-game rally in winning the nightcap 7-5.
Augsburg struck first in the opener, scoring a solo run in the top of the third inning.
Saint Mary's let a golden scoring opportunity slip through their grasp in its half of the third, loading the bases with the benefit of a hit — getting a two-out walk to
Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn.), before
Hallie Schmeling (Onalaska, Wis.) was hit by a pitch and
Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn.) reached on a strikeout/wild pitch — but Sam Anderson got
Amber Chow (West St. Paul, Minn.) to ground out to end the threat.
Augsburg threatened to extend its lead in the top of the fifth, getting a lead-off single by Nell Gehrke, who advanced all the way to third on a two-base Cardinal fielding error. But there she sat, as Chow recorded back-to-back strikeouts and induced a ground-out to short to end the threat — and keep the Cardinals' within one.
Saint Mary's finally broke through in the fifth — and broke through in a big way.
The Cardinals recorded their first hit off Anderson — a lead-off infield single by
Roni Stevens (Delano, Minn.). Gudmundson followed with a walk and an Auggie fielding error on Schmeling's sacrifice bunt loaded the bases for Schultz, who lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Stevens and knot the game at 1-1.
The Cardinals reloaded the bases when Chow was hit by a pitch, and a
Maria Averbeck (Lewiston, Minn.) ground out to third scored the Cardinals' second run of the inning. Saint Mary's pushed the lead to 3-1 when Schmeling scored on an Anderson error, and a run-scoring double by
Tara Nikolich (Chicago, Ill.) made it a 4-1 Cardinal advantage.
Stevens and Nikolich were the only Cardinals to manage a hit off Anderson, while Chow tossed her team-leading 13th complete game, scattering seven hits and allowing just the lone second-inning run.
The Auggies jumped out to an early lead in the second game, scoring a pair of unearned runs in their first at-bat. The Cardinals threatened in their half of the opening inning, loading the bases on a Gudmundson single, and back-to-back walks to Schmeling and
Maria Averbeck (Lewiston, Minn.), but a line-dive, pitcher-to-first double play thwarted the rally and left Saint Mary's staring at a 2-0 deficit.
The Cardinals loaded the bases for a second straight inning in the second — this time stringing together back-to-back-to-back singles by Stevens,
Haley Williams (Littleton, Colo.), and
DeJaye Baab (Wabasha, Minn.) with one out. But again, the Cardinals came up empty, as Augsburg pitcher Elly Strunk recorded a pair of groundball outs to end the threat — and preserve the Auggies' 2-0 lead.
It was the Auggies' turn to load the bases in the fourth — with far different results — as Augsburg scored three times, once on an RBI groundout by Gerhke and two more on a two-out double by Anesia King to push the lead to 5-0.
Augsburg pushed its lead to 7-0 with two more runs in the fifth, before the Cardinals' offense came to life. Gudmundson opened the Cardinal half of the fifth with a walk and scored on Schmeling's RBI double to left-center. Schmeling, who had advanced to third on the throw to the plate trying to nail Gudmundson, scored on a wild pitch one pitch later to pull Saint Mary's to within 7-2. The Cardinals reloaded the bases with one out and scored their third run of the inning on a Nikolich groundout.
The Cardinals could not get any closer in the sixth — despite loading the bases with two outs — but they did cut into the Auggie lead in their final at-bat, scoring once on a Nikolich triple and adding another on an Augsburg passed ball.
Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as Anderson — on in relief since the sixth — got
Amber Trendle (Chicago, Ill.) to strike out to end the inning.
Nikolich and Schmeling each finished with two hits in the nightcap, with Nikolich driving in two, while Schmeling chipped in one RBI.
The Cardinals (4-14 MIAC, 8-24 overall) are right back in action on Thursday, returning to the Saint Mary's Field for a nonconference doubleheader against UW-Eau Claire. First pitch in Game 1 is set for 3 p.m.
