WINONA, Minn. — It was the perfect way for the Saint Mary's fastpitch softball team to close out its regular season and head into the post-season — knocking off the 19th-ranked team in the country.
Rebounding from a 10-0, six-inning loss to No. 19 Saint Benedict in the opener, the Cardinals rode the bats of
Ali French (Winona, Minn.) and
Abbie Stigler (Menomonie, Wis.) to a 5-2 victory in the nightcap of the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader Sunday at the Saint Mary's Field.
GAME 1: TWO BIG BENNIE INNINGS DOOM CARDINALS
The Bennies scored all of their runs in two innings in Game 1, erupting for five runs in the fourth inning, and matching that output in the sixth — while limiting SMU to just three hits — in cruising to the 10-run victory.
Saint Mary's picked up two of its three hits off CSB starter Allie Novak in the fifth, getting a two-out infield single by
Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.), followed by a single to center by French.
Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Novak induced
Cassie Sutor to ground out to end the threat.
Stigler collected SMU's only other hit off Novak, opening the bottom of the sixth with a double.
Riley Hall (Dallas Center, Iowa) was hit by a pitch to give the Cardinals a pair of sixth-inning base runner, and once again Novak wiggled out of the jam, sandwiching a pair of strikeouts around a ground-out to secure the complete-game victory.
GAME 2: TURNING THE TABLES
The Cardinals took a page out of the Bennies' playbook in the nightcap, scoring all five of their runs in just two innings — and both times scoring all their runs with two outs.
Stigler gave the Cardinal offense a jump-start in the second inning, delivering a two-out, two-run single to center, scoring Grace Olstead () and Doering () for a 2-0 SMU lead.
Two innings later, it was French's turn to come up big in the clutch, as the freshman delivered a bases-clearing, three-run double — SMU's lone hit of the inning — extending the Cardinals' lead to 5-0 heading to the fourth.
Saint Benedict scratched across solo runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but it wasn't nearly enough, as Saint Mary's earned the split to close out conference play 13-9.
French closed out Game 2 going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored, while Stigler, Hall, and
Naleya Bork (Fond du Lac, Wis.) recorded SMU's other five hits in the nightcap.
Saint Mary's (21-17 overall) will kick off MIAC Tournament play on Thursday as the No. 6 seed and will travel to either Gustavus or St. Olaf for a 4:30 p.m. quarterfinal contest.
