ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — If the Saint Mary's fastpitch softball team was intimidated by Bethel's gaudy pedigree, the Cardinals certainly didn't show it.
 
Bethel entered the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference unbeaten in its first 16 conference games, ranked No. 9 in the country, and boasting the nation's leading pitcher in Kayla Simacek — owner of a Division III-leading 275 strikeouts.
 
And the Cardinals were unfazed — and unimpressed — giving the Royals all they could handle Wednesday afternoon at Ona Orth Athletic Complex.
 
In fact, Saint Mary's took the Royals to the brink — tagging Simacek for the most runs she had allowed all season — only to have Bethel get a one-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift BU to a 6-5, Game 1 victory.
 
The Cardinals scored first in the nightcap, but Bethel rallied with two runs in the fourth and another in the sixth to deal Saint Mary's another heartbreaking setback, 3-1.
 
GAME 1: HEARTBREAKING ENDING
The Cardinals found themselves playing catch-up from the opening inning in the opener, spotting Bethel an early three-run advantage. BU, which managed just two first-inning hits, capitalized on three walks and a hit batter to plate its three runs and grab a 3-0 lead after the first inning.
 
Saint Mary's got one run back in the second, when Ali French (Winona, Minn.) singles, moved to second on a ground-out, and scored on a Cassie Sutor (Chicago, Ill.) two-out single to center.
 
The Cardinals silenced BU in the second, but could not keep the high-powered Royal bats quiet any longer, as Bethel banged out three hits and tacked on a pair of runs in the third, to push its lead to 5-1.
 
Despite the four-run deficit — and facing one of the top pitchers in the nation — Saint Mary's would not go away, however, trimming that deficit to two, 5-3 in the fifth — thanks to a two-run single by Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa). Sutor opened the frame with a single and Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) reached on a BU fielding error to put runners on first and second. Mackenzie Carey (Prescott, Wis.) sacrificed the two over, and after a fly out, Hall delivered her two-run single to left.
 
And one inning later, the Cardinals found themselves back to even with the ninth-ranked Royals — tagging Simacek for two runs on four hits. SMU scored once on a passed ball and got a game-tying RBI single by Naleya Bork (Fond du Lac, Wis.) to knot the game at 5-5 heading to the seventh.
 
French laced her second double of the game with two-out in the top of the seventh, but was stranded, and in the Royals' half of the frame, BU loaded the bases with one out — and Izzy Wilhelm foiled the Cardinals' upset bid with a walk-off single to left.
 
French closed out Game 1 going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, while Sutor had a pair of hits in three at-bats, and Hall, Bork, Ciero, Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.), and Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.) accounted for SMU's other five hits.
 
GAME 2: OH SO CLOSE, AGAIN
Simacek had SMU's number through the first three innings, allowing a one-out, first-inning single to Hall, before setting down the next eight Cardinals she faced.
 
The BU hurler wasn't as fortunate the second time through the SMU order, however, as Hall opened the Cardinal fourth with her second hit in as many at-bats, was sacrificed to second, and scored the game's first run on a single to left by French. Nordlund followed with a single to put runners on the corners, but Simacek escaped without any further damage with a strikeout and a groundout.
 
Bethel, which was held scoreless through the first three innings, despite collecting a pair of hits in both the second and third frames, finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth, banging out three hits — including a pair of doubles — to plate two runs and take its first lead of the game, 2-1.
 
The Royals tacked on an insurance run with a one-out, RBI single by Lexi DeBace, and Simacek set down the Cardinals in order in the seventh to seal the win, and the BU sweep.
 
Hall finished with two of Saint Mary's five hits in the nightcap, with French, Nordlund, and Jada Allen (Eau Claire, Wis.) picking up the other three.
 
Saint Mary's (10-8 MIAC, 18-16 overall) will play their third doubleheader in as many days on Thursday, heading to Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC twinbill against the Auggies.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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