MANKATO, Minn. — To say the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team came out swinging in its opening game of the Bethany Lutheran Invitational Saturday would be an understatement.
The Cardinals, who swept through their first four games of the season last weekend — outscoring their first four opponents 42-7 — picked up right where they left off on Saturday.
Literally.
Saint Mary's erupted for seven runs in its first at-bat and Martin Luther never had a chance, as the Cardinals cruised to win No. 5 on the season, 18-2 in five innings.
There would be no early ending for the Cardinals in their second game of the day – in fact, this time around, the regulation seven innings weren't enough.
Coe, ranked No. 4 in the NFCA Preseason Poll, scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to post a walk-off, 5-4 win over the Cardinals — dealing SMU its first loss after opening with five consecutive wins.
SMU 18, MARTIN LUTHER 2: THE RUNS JUST KEEP COMING
The Cardinals did not rest on their first-inning laurels against Martin Luther, tacking on two runs in the second, three in the third, five in the fourth, and one more for good measure in the fifth. The Knights, meanwhile, picked up both of their runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Emily Bonk (Hudson, Wis.) and
Naleya Bork (De Pere, Wis.) led the Cardinals' 15-hit offensive attack, with Bonk going 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored, while Bork finished 2-for-2 — including a two-run home run in the second — and scored three times. Eleven other Cardinals each chipped in a hit, while three SMU pitchers combined to allow just two runs on four hits in five innings.
#4 COE 5, SMU 4 (8): PUTTING IN A LITTLE EXTRA WORK
The Cardinals struck first against the Kohawks, getting their second two-run home run of the day — this one off the bat of
Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.) in the top of the fourth to give SMU a 2-0 lead.
The lead did not last long, however, as Coe answered with three runs in its half of the fourth, and carried that 3-2 lead into the seventh, where a
Makayla Steffes (Winona, Minn.) RBI single pulled the Cardinals even, 3-3 — and sent the game into extra innings.
SMU scored once in its half of the eighth on Nordlund's third RBI of the game, a run-scoring single, only to have the Kohawks once again have an answer, scoring twice on a two-run, walk-off single by Madi Parson to seal the win.
Steffes and Nordlund each had three hits in four at-bats for the Cardinals, while
Ali French (Winona, Minn.) chipped in a pair of hits. Steffes went the distance in the pitcher's circle, allowing five runs on seven hits, while striking out four.
The Cardinals (5-1 overall) close out their second weekend stay in Mankato, Minn., on Sunday, squaring off against Bethany Lutheran at 8 a.m. and Luther at 1 p.m.
