CLERMONT, Fla. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team came out swinging to open its spring trip Saturday evening — erupting for 14 runs on 12 hits in routing Neumann 14-0 in five innings.
And the Cardinals picked up right where they left off on Sunday, scoring 10 more runs — on 15 hits — in posting win No. 2 on the season, a 10-4 victory over Cabrini at Legends Way Field.
Saint Mary's did not waste any time take control against the Cavaliers, scoring three time in their first at-bat — thanks to an RBI single by
Sophie Cave (Maplewood, Minn.), an RBI double off the bat of
Erin Sullivan (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.), and a run-scoring triple by
Sarah Kraus (Onalaska, Wis.).
Sullivan laced her second straight RBI double to plate another run in the bottom of the third to push SMU's lead to 4-0, only to have Cabrini cut the deficit to 4-2 with two runs in the top of the fourth.
Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) — who went 3-for-3 in her first collegiate game against Neumann on Saturday — delivered a two-run single and
Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa) added an RBI groundout in the bottom of the fifth to push SMU's lead to five, 7-2.
Cabrini put together its second straight two-run inning in the fifth, but again Saint Mary's had an answer, scoring three times in the sixth on a Ciero single, a. Hall triple and a
Cassie Sutor (Chicago, Ill.) double — to seal the win.
Sullivan finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and a pair of runs scored, while Ciero, Hall, Cave, and
Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.) all chipped in two hits. Kraus picked up her first pitching win as a Cardinal, tossing a complete game. She allowed four runs — only two earned — on seven hits, while walking two and striking out five.
The Cardinals (2-0 overall) are right back in action, returning to the diamond Sunday for a nonconference matchup against Wartburg.
