CLERMONT, Fla. — The Saint Mary's fastpitch softball team picked up its fourth straight win Friday afternoon, as the Cardinals — who dropped Eastern 9-3 earlier in the day — scored 11 unanswered runs, erasing a 2-0 deficit and rolling to an 11-4 victory over Finlandia.
Saint Mary's spotted the Lions an early 2-0 lead, before storming back with five runs in the top of the third — scoring five runs with two swings of the bat — to take the lead for good.
Cassie Sutor (Chicago, Ill.) delivered a two-run single and
Sophie Cave (Maplewood, Minn.) launched her first HR as a Cardinal — a three-run bomb — to put Saint Mary's in front 5-0.
The Cardinals added an unearned run in the fourth and scored three times in the sixth — getting RBI hits from Sutor,
Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.), and
Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa) — to make it 9-2.
A Lion fielding error and an RBI groundout by
Katelyn Cruze (Litchfield) capped Saint Mary's two-run seventh. Finlandia would score twice in the bottom of the frame, but it was far too little, too late, as Saint Mary's coasted to its sixth win in 10 spring-trip games.
Hall, Sutor, Cave, Nordlund,
Lizzy Baird (Wells, Minn.), and
Amy Kulaga (Riverside, Ill.) all recorded two hits to lead SMU's 15-hit attack, while
The Cardinals (6-4 overall) close out their spring trip on Saturday, squaring off against Houghton in a 9:45 a.m. EST nonconference contest.
