WINONA, Minn. — For the first time in four conference doubleheaders, the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team played a twinbill not decided by a split.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it was visiting St. Olaf that brought out the brooms, as the Oles dealt Saint Mary's back-to-back MIAC losses, beating SMU 5-3 in the opener and 9-3 in the nightcap Tuesday afternoon at the Saint Mary's Field.
GAME 1: OLES' QUICK START TOO MUCH
St. Olaf's struck quickly in the opener— scoring three runs in the top of the first inning — only to have the Cardinals answer right back in their first at-bat.
Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa) led off the Saint Mary's first with a double, and, one out later, scored when
Naleya Bork (De Pere, Wis.) delivered the Cardinals' second two-bagger of the inning to cut the deficit to two, 3-1, and
Abbie Stigler (Menomonie, Wis.) made it a one-run game, 3-2, with SMU double No. 3 of the frame.
Saint Mary's had a pair of golden opportunities in the third and fourth innings — loading the bases with one out in the third and getting a runner on third with one out in the fourth — but came up empty both times.
Staring at a 5-2 deficit in the seventh, Saint Mary's put an end to its five-inning scoreless drought, loading the bases with one out. SMU scratched one run across on a sacrifice fly by
Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.), but that would be as close as the Cardinals would get.
Saint Mary's finished with five hits — from five different players — while the Oles finished with nine hits off a pair of Cardinal pitchers.
GAME 2: ANOTHER SLOW START
As was the case in the opener, the Cardinals found themselves playing catch-up from the get-go in Game 2.
And, just like in Game 1, the early hole was just too deep for Saint Mary's to climb out of.
St. Olaf erupted for six runs in the top of the second inning, and a solo run in the third and two more in the fourth to take a commanding 9-0 advantage.
Saint Mary's, which was held hitless through the first three innings, banged out seven hits and scored three runs over the final four innings, but it was not nearly enough to erase the Oles' early nine-run lead.
Berg delivered the key hit in SMU's two-run fourth, lacing a one-out single to right, scoring both
Ali French (Winona, Minn.) and Bork with the Cardinals' first two runs. French then added an RBI single in the fifth to plate Saint Mary's third run, only to have SMU fail to get any closer over their final two at-bats.
French finished with two of the Cardinals' seven hits in the nightcap, with Bork, Berg,
Cassie Sutor (Chicago, Ill.),
Alexis Blackburn (Chicago, Ill.), and
Gabrielle Grover (Mantorville, Minn.) collecting the other five.
The Cardinals (3-5 MIAC, 9-13 overall) are back in action on Thursday, when they step out of conference play for a pair of games against UW-River Falls. First pitch at Faye Perkins Stadium in River Falls, Wis., is set for 2:30 p.m.
