DUNDAS, Minn. — Three conference doubleheaders, three conference splits for the Saint Mary's fastpitch softball team.
 
And for the second straight twinbill, the Cardinals needed to rebound from a Game 1 loss to earn the split Saturday afternoon.
 
Carleton scored five times in the bottom of the fifth inning — erasing a 7-4 Saint Mary's lead — as the Knights opened the two-game series with a 9-7 come-from-behind victory, while Saint Mary's rode the arm of Izzy Griffin (West St. Paul, Minn.) to a 2-0 win in the nightcap.
 
GAME 1: NO LEAD IS SAFE
Carleton came out of the gates quickly, scoring a solo run in its first at-bat, but the Cardinals had an answer, putting up their second six-run inning in as many games in the third.
 
SMU would bang out five hits in that six-run third, including four doubles — highlighted by a two-run two-bagger by Naleya Bork (De Pere, Wis.) and a run-scoring double by Mackenzie Carey (Prescott, Wis.). Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.) added an RBI single and SMU plated two more on a Carleton throwing error to grab a 6-1 advantage.
 
The Knights chipped away at the SMU lead, scoring once in the bottom of the third and twice more in the fourth to cut the deficit to two, 6-4.
 
Another SMU double — this one a run-scoring two-base knock by Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) — pushed the Cardinal lead to 7-4 — but Carleton would deliver five hits, and take advantage of two costly Saint Mary's errors, to score five times in earning the Game 1 victory.
 
Bork and Nordlund each had two hits, with Berg, Alison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), Abbie Stigler (Menomonie, Wis.), and Carey each adding one in SMU's eight-hit Game 1 offensive attack.
 
GAME 2: EPIC FIRST START
After scoring seven runs in the opening, the Cardinals were held to just two in the nightcap — but with Griffin in the pitcher's circle, two runs was more than enough.
 
Making her first collegiate start, Griffin limited the Knights to just five hits — all singles — and did not walk a batter en route her first career complete game and first collegiate shutout.
 
Saint Mary's gave the sophomore all the run support she would need in the fifth when Stigler launched a one-out homer to left-center. SMU would tack on a second run in the seventh, this one coming on a Carleton fielding error, as the Cardinals sealed their third split in as many conference doubleheaders.
 
Along with her fifth-inning home run, Stigler also added a single, finishing the game 2-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored. Nordlund, Berg, Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa), and Jada Allen (Eau Claire, Wis.) collected SMU's other three hits.
The Cardinals (3-3 MIAC, 9-11 overall) return home to the Saint Mary's Field on Tuesday, when they play host to St. Olaf in a 3:30 p.m. conference doubleheader.
  Read Full Article