MANKATO, Minn. — The Saint Mary's fastpitch softball team kicked off its season with mixed results Saturday afternoon, as the Cardinals opened their four-game trek to the Mankato Dome with a convincing 8-0 victory over Crown, before surrendering a game-ending run in the bottom of the seventh inning in falling to Nebraska Wesleyan 7-6 in game No. 2.
Saint Mary's plated a solo run in the top of the second, before adding two in the fourth and three more in the fifth to grab a 6-0 lead against Crown. SMU then iced the win with a two-run seventh en route to the shutout win.
Ali French (Winona, Minn.) went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored in her first collegiate game, while
Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) added a pair of hits in three at-bats and drove in two runs.
Saint Mary's surrendered a first-inning run in its second game of the day against Nebraska Wesleyan, only to pull even with a run in the top of the second. SMU grabbed its first lead of the game, 2-1, with another solo run in the fourth, but the Prairie Wolves answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame take a 3-2 lead.
The Cardinals regained the advantage with three runs in the fifth and another in the sixth, only to have Nebraska Wesleyan plate three runs in the bottom of the sixth to knot the game at 6-6, before getting a walk-off, one-out single in the seventh to steal the 7-6 win.
Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) paced the Cardinals' seven-hit attack with two hits, while
Naleya Bork (DePere, Wis.) delivered a two-run home run — the first of her collegiate career.
The Cardinals (1-1 overall) are back in action on Sunday, squaring off against North Central and Bethany Lutheran in their final two games at the Mankato Dome in Mankato, Minn.
