WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team scored in just three of the 14 innings they batted in during its two nonconference spring trip games Thursday afternoon.
Which was good enough for a split in the Collardinals' two contests.
Saint Mary's was limited to just two, fourth-inning runs in dropping a 4-2 decision to Calvin in its first game of the day, before erupting for four fifth-inning runs and adding a two-run sixth to roll to a 6-1 win over Chatham later in the day.
ONE INNING NOT ENOUGH
The Cardinals had their chances early in their matchup against Calvin, putting runners on base in two of the first three innings, but came up empty both times.
And by the time Saint Mary's did finally scratch across a run — or two — the Cardinals were staring at a 2-0 deficit.
Calvin grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the second, getting a two-out, two-run triple off the bat of Sydney Duong.
The Cardinals' offense came to life in the fourth, and with one swing of the bat, SMU's two-run deficit was trimmed to one.
Naleya Bork (De Pere, Wis.) launched her second home run of the season — a lead-off bomb in the bottom of the fourth to cut the gap to 2-1.
Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.) followed Bork's blast with a single, moved to second on a walk, and scored on a Knights' fielding effort to make it a 2-2 game.
The Knights regained the lead with their second two-run inning of the morning in the fifth, and limited toe Cardinals to just two hits over their final three at-bats to secure the 4-2 victory.
Nordlund, Bork, and
Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) accounted for all six of Saint Mary's hits against the Knights, with all three collecting a pair of hits.
STRINGING RUNS TOGETHER
Saint Mary's spotted the Cougars an early 1-0 lead, surrendering an unearned run in the bottom of the second.
Chatham would cling to that one-run lead through the first four innings, but it was only a matter of time before the Cardinal offense would find its groove.
Abbie Stigler (Menomonie, Wis.) kicked off Saint Mary's four-run fifth with a lead-off home run — her second of the season — while Ciero added a two-run single and
Emily Bonk (Hudson, Wis.) drove in the other with a run-scoring single.
Stigler had a hand in SMU's first of two runs in the sixth, delivering an RBI single that scored
Savannah Swanson (Marengo, Ill.), who had opened the inning with a double.
Zoe Fink () chipped in an RBI single to plate Stigler to ice the Cardinals' victory.
Stigler, Bonk, and
Jada Allen all had two hits to pace the Cardinals' 10-hit offensive attack, with Stigler added two runs scored and two RBIs to her 2-for-3 showing.
Sarah Kraus (Onalaska, Wis.) picked up the pitching win, scattering four hits in four innings of scoreless relief.
The Cardinals (5-5 overall) close out their eight-game spring trip on Friday, squaring off against Eastern University (9 a.m. EST) and Cabrini (2 p.m. EST) at the DiamondPlex in Winter Haven, Fla.
