MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's fastpitch softball team — heading into the final week of the regular season with sights set on earning a post-season berth for the first time since 2013 — kicked off its quest in convincing fashion on Tuesday, securing a pair of road wins over Concordia.
 
The Cardinals rallied from a 4-3 deficit, belting back-to-back-to-back extra-base hits — two doubles and a triple — as part of a four-run sixth inning to lead SMU to a 7-4 victory in the opener. In the nightcap, Ali French (Winona, Minn.) went 3-for-3 and SMU banged out 13 hits, as Saint Mary's completed the sweep with a 6-2 victory
 
With the back-to-back wins, the Cardinals improved to 10-6 in conference play and maintained their stranglehold on the sixth and final MIAC Tournament slot with six games remaining in the regular season.
 
The Cardinals — who have doubleheaders against ninth-ranked Bethel, Augsburg, and No. 19 Saint Benedict still on their schedule this week — are one win back of fifth-place St. Catherine (11-7) and two up on seventh-place Hamline in the chase for one of the MIAC Tournament invitations. Both the Wildcats and Pipers have four regular-season games remaining — including a head-to-head showdown to close out the MIAC schedule on Saturday.
 
GAME 1: EXTRA-SPECIAL SIXTH INNING
Saint Mary's did not wait long to take charge in the opening, scoring once in its first at-bat. Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa) laced a one-out single, stole second, and scored on a two-out RBI single by Ali French (Winona, Minn.).
 
The Cardinals expanded their advantage to three runs in the third — with one swing of the bat. Hall collected her second hit in as many at-bats, a two-out single, and Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) followed with her second home run of the season to give SMU a 3-0 cushion.
 
Concordia answered back in the bottom of the third, scoring once on a pair of hits off SMU starter Sarah Kraus (Onalaska, Wis.), before parlaying three hits, a walk and a Cardinal error into three more runs in the bottom of the fourth to grab its first lead of the game, 4-3.
 
Saint Mary's regained the advantage in the sixth, 5-4 — thanks to a lead-off single by Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.) and back-to-back RBI doubles off the bats of Cassie Sutor (Chicago, Ill.) and Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill).
 
And the Cardinals weren't finished, as Mackenzie Carey (Prescott, Wis.) followed up the two doubles with an RBI triple, while Stigler singled to right to plate SMU's fourth run of the inning, and pad the Saint Mary's lead to 7-4.
 
Stigler, Hall, Nordlund, and Ciero all picked up two hits to pace the Cardinals' offensive attack, while Kraus picked up the win, tossing her team-leading 10th complete game, allowing four runs on eight hits.
 
GAME 2: DOUBLING THEIR WAY TO A SWEEP
Saint Mary's grabbed the early lead again in Game 2, scoring a solo run in the top of the second — thanks to a two-out single by Stigler, followed by an RBI triple from Ciero.
 
The Cardinals didn't wait until the sixth inning to put the game out of reach this time around, scoring three times in the third inning and twice more in the sixth.
 
Stigler led off the third with a double, moved to third on a ground-out, and scored on a Berg single up the middle. French followed with a walk to put runners on first and second, and Nordlund delivered an RBI double of her own. French would score SMU's third run of the frame on a ground-out by Naleya Bork (Fond du Lac, Wis.) to give Saint Mary's a commanding 4-0 lead.
 
Saint Mary's pushed across two more runs in the sixth, when Stigler laced her second double of the game — and SMU's eighth extra-base hit of the afternoon — moved to third on an infield single by Hall, and scored on a Cobber throwing error. French then collected her third hit in as many at-bats, a one-out, run-scoring single, to extend the Cardinals' lead to 6-0.
 
The Cobbers foiled Bork's shutout bid in the seventh, collecting four of their six Game 2 hits and plating a pair of runs. Bork settled for a complete-game six-hitter, allowing just the two seventh-inning runs, while striking out six and not walking a batter.
 
French finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Stigler, Berg, and Nordlund all had two hits to pace the Cardinals' 13 hit offensive attack.
 
The Cardinals (10-6 MIAC, 18-14 overall) are right back in action on Wednesday, heading to Bethel's Ona Orth Athletic Complete in Arden Hills, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. MIAC DH against the ninth-ranked Royals.
 
 
 
 
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