WINONA, Minn. — As if facing Bethel — the nation's 14th-ranked team and winners of 16 straight and 18 of its first 20 — wasn't daunting enough, the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team had to face a Royals' squad that boasted a well-rested Kayla Simack in the pitcher's circle.
 
Coming off a season-high 15-strikeout performance in her last outing — a 1-0 win over Concordia on April 11 — Simack picked up right where she left off against the Cobbers, coming within a BU error of a perfect game in no-hitting the Cardinals with 11 strikeouts in a 2-0, Game 1 Bethel victory.
 
Simack wasn't untouchable in the nightcap — Saint Mary's boasted a 6-5 advantage in hits —  but were once again Saint Mary's was unable to scratch across a run, as Bethel completed the conference sweep with a 3-0-win Tuesday afternoon at the Saint Mary's Field.
 
GAME 1: NO-NO
 
Simack, who struck out 18 Cardinal batters in a 6-0, Game 1 win a year ago, was virtually untouchable in Tuesday's opener, setting the Cardinals down in order in each of the first four innings. The Cardinals finally got a base-runner in the bottom of the fifth — thanks to a Bethel fielding error — but could not capitalize.
 
While Saint Mary's was struggling to solve BU's senior right-hander, the Royals weren't having much success against Cardinal starter Sarah Kraus, who matched Simack hitless-inning-for-hitless-inning through four frames.
 
In the fifth, however, the Royals picked up their first hit — and benefited from a Cardinal error — to score the game's first run. BU would tack on three more hits, and another run, in the sixth en route to the 2-0 win.
 
Kraus recorded her team-leading eighth complete game for the Cardinals, allowing just two runs — one earned — on five hits, while walking two and striking out eight.
 
GAME 2: PLENTY OF HITS, BUT NO RUNS
 
The Cardinals were not about to let Simack get into any type of rhythm in the nightcap, getting a two-out hit from Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.) in the bottom of the first inning. SMU would add two more hits in the third, and single hits in the fourth, fifth, and seventh — but came up empty each time in suffering its second straight shutout loss.
 
After another scoreless battle through four innings, the Royals once again broke through in the fifth inning — this time scoring a pair of runs — before adding a solo run in the top of the seventh in pushing their winning streak to 18 straight.
 
Nordlund and Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) each had two hits, while Sophie Cave (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Erin Sullivan (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) accounted for SMU's other two hits. Kraus tossed her second complete game of the day, limiting BU to three runs on five hits. She walked two and struck out seven.
 
The Cardinals (5-8 MIAC, 12-12 overall) are back in action on Thursday, traveling to Duluth, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. conference doubleheader against St. Scholastica.
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