ST. PETER, Minn. — It was a day of streaks for the Saint Mary's fastpitch softball team Sunday afternoon — with one coming to an end and another continuing.
 
The Cardinals had their season-high six-game winning streak snapped with a 7-4 loss to Gustavus in the opening game of their MIAC doubleheader at Gustie Field. Unfazed by the loss — its first since fall to St. Olaf on April 11 — Saint Mary's responded with a convincing Game 2 win, routing the Gusties 9-4 to earn the split.
 
And while the Gusties were able to stop Saint Mary's six-game run, they were unable to stop SMU freshman Ali French (Winona, Minn.), who went 7-for-8 on the afternoon — 3-for-4 in the opener and 4-for-4 in the nightcap — and drove in three runs in fueling a Cardinal offense that finished the day with 18 hits
 
GAME 1: FOURTH-INNING WOES
After giving up a solo run in the bottom of the first inning, it was French who pulled the Cardinals' even, delivering the first of her three Game 1 hits, a second-inning single, to make it a 1-1 game. Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) followed with a sacrifice fly to plate SMU's second run of the inning and give Saint Mary's a 2-1 lead.
 
Gustavus took the lead for good with a four-run fourth and added two more runs in the sixth to push its advantage to 7-2. SMU threatened in the seventh, scoring a pair of unearned runs, but that was as close as the Cardinals would get.
 
Along with French's three hits, SMU got a pair of hits from Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa) — including a double — while Abbie Stigler (Menomonie, Wis.), Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.), Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.), and Mackenzie Carey (Prescot, Wis.) accounted for the other four Game 1 hits.
 
GAME 2: REBOUND WIN
The Gusties picked up right where they left off to open the second game, scoring three times in the first inning to grab what appeared to be a commanding 3-0 cushion.
 
Appeared to be.
 
Saint Mary's did GAC's three-run first one better with a four-run second — scoring once on a Hall sacrifice fly, once on a wild pitch, once on a passed ball, and once on an RBI groundout by Stigler — and took the lead for good, 6-4, thanks to a Cassie Sutor (Chicago, Ill.) RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Ciero in the Cardinals' two-run third.
 
SMU added a solo run in the fourth — once again scoring on a passed ball — before French pushed the lead to 9-3 with a two-run double to center in the sixth. GAC plated a single run in the bottom of the seventh, but it was too little, too late.
 
French and Sutor combined to collected six of SMU's nine hits in the nightcap, with French going 4-for-4, while Sutor was 2-for-4. Nordlund, Naleya Bork (De Pere, Wis.), and Ciero each chipped in one hit. Sutor picked up the pitching win, allowing four runs on 10 hits in a complete-game effort.
 
The Cardinals (8-6 MIAC, 16-14 overall) are now off until Friday, when they travel to Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 2 p.m. MIAC doubleheader against the Auggies.
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