MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — To say that the Saint Mary's fastpitch softball team is feeling a bit road weary would be an understatement.
 
After all, when the Cardinals took the field for their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Augsburg on Thursday, it marked the third conference twinbill in the last three days — all on the road.
 
Yet, despite the road-heavy schedule, the Cardinals were more than up to the task — and richly rewarded for their efforts.
 
Saint Mary's erupted for seven runs in the top of the second inning and never looked back in cruising to an 11-3, five-inning victory in the opener against the Auggies at Edor Nelson Field.
 
The Cardinals had an opportunity to walk into the post-season, literally — taking advantage of nine walks in the first two innings to score five times — but needed a two-run home run by Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa) in the top of the eighth to seal the wild, 12-11 Game 2 win.
 
With the sweep, the Cardinals improved to 12-8 in conference play and officially punched their ticket to the six-team MIAC post-season tournament with two regular-season games left to play. Saint Mary's will head into Saturday's MIAC doubleheader against nationally ranked Saint Benedict sitting in the No. 5 spot, one win up on St. Catherine.
 
GAME 1: LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN
 
The Auggies struck first in the opener, scoring a solo run in the first inning on an RBI single by Olivia Hennager, scoring Torrie Rehder — who was hit by a pitch to open the frame, sacrificed to second, and moved to third on a wild pitch.
 
Unfazed by the one-run deficit, Saint Mary's promptly plated seven runs in the top of the second — and just like that, the Cardinals were in the lead for good.
 
Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.) kicked off SMU's second-inning fireworks with a lead-off home run to right-center. Naleya Bork (Fond du Lac, Wis.), Cassie Sutor (Chicago, Ill.) and Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) all followed with hits — Ciero's a two-run double — to give Saint Mary's a 3-1 advantage.
 
And the Cardinals were just getting warmed up.
 
Mackenzie Carey (Prescott, Wis.) recorded SMU's fifth consecutive hit and Abbie Stigler (Menomonie, Wis.) walked to load the bases. Hall was hit by a pitch to plate SMU's fourth run of the inning, and Peyton Berg delivered a bases-clearing, three-run double to the gap in left-center field to push Saint Mary's lead to 7-1.
 
Sutor walked to open the fifth, Jada Allen (Eau Claire, Wis.) followed with a pinch-hit single, and Carey delivered a base hit to right to score Sutor to make it an 8-1 cushion. SMU would tack on three more runs — thanks in part to a pair of Auggie throwing errors — to extend the lead to 11-1.
 
Ciero and Carey each had two hits to pace the Saint Mary's 13-hit Game 1 attack, while nine other Cardinals finished the game with one hit. Sarah Kraus (Onalaska, Wis.) picked up the pitching win, limiting Augsburg to just two hits over the first four innings, before surrendering three hits and a pair of runs in the fifth.
 
GAME 2: SWEEPING PAST THE AUGGEIS – AND INTO THE POST-SEASON
 
The Cardinals didn't even need to swing the bats to take a 3-0 lead in the nightcap, taking advantage of five first-inning walks and a hit batter to plate three runs.
 
Augsburg got one run back in its half of the first, but Saint Mary's put on its walking shoes once again in the second, picking up four more walks and a second hit batter — all with two outs — to score two more runs and push its lead to 5-1.
 
Saint Mary's finally picked up its first hit — a lead-off single by Allen in the top of the third — and once the Cardinals got that first single, the floodgates opened. SMU banged out five third-inning singles to score four times and extend its advantage to what appeared to be a commanding 9-1.
 
Appeared to be.
 
Augsburg made that eight-run deficit disappear in just three at-bats, scoring four times in the bottom of the third and adding a second straight four-run inning in the fourth, before taking its first lead of the game, 10-9, with a solo run in the fifth.
 
Hall was hit by pitch — the second time on the day and 18th time this season she has been hit by a pitch — to open the seventh. The junior stole second and scored on an RBI single by Berg to tie things up at 10-10.
 
And send the game to extra innings — where Hall proved to be the hero, lifting her fourth home run of the season over the fence in left field to put Saint Mary's in front 12-10.
 
Augsburg took advantage of two Cardinal errors to open the bottom half of the eighth to score an unearned run, but that was as close as the Auggies would get — as SMU iced its first MIAC Tournament berth since 2013.
 
Hall finished Game 2 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and three runs scored, while seven other SMU players had one hit each to account for SMU's 10-hit offensive attack.
 
The Cardinals (12-8 MIAC, 20-16 overall) close out their regular-season schedule on Saturday, when they play host to nationally ranked Saint Benedict in a 1 p.m. MIAC doubleheader at SMU Field.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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