MANKATO, Minn. — After scoring 57 runs in their first six games, the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team was held to a season-low three runs in its game against host Bethany Lutheran Sunday morning.
 
But with Naleya Bork (De Pere, Wis.) twirling a gem in the pitcher's circle, three runs was more than enough.
 
Bork tossed a two-hit shutout, and Makayla Steffes and Ali French (Winona, Minn.) delivered run-scoring hits in leading Saint Mary's to a 3-0 victory over the Vikings at the Bethany Lutheran Invitational.
 
Saint Mary's completed its second four-game stint at the Maverick Dome the same way it began — with a victory. SMU erupted for four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, rallying from a 6-5 deficit to beat Luther 9-6.
 
SMU 3, BETHANY LUTHERAN 0: A PITCHING MASTERPIECE
Bork was near perfect in the circle for the Cardinals, allowing the Vikings just a pair of singles — one in the first and one in the fifth — while walking two and striking out one in earning the complete-game victory.
 
Offensive, the Cardinals broke a scoreless deadlock with an unearned run in the fourth, before Steffes laced an RBI double and French added a run-scoring single in SMU's two-run sixth.
 
French finished 3-for-3 with a run scored, while Steffes, Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.), Bork, and Breonna Methner (Woodbury, Minn.) accounted for SMU's other four hits against BLC.
 
SMU 9, LUTHER 6: BACK TO THEIR OFFENSIVE WAYS
After Bork's pitching masterpiece earlier in the day, the Cardinals returned to their high-octane offensive ways in their final game, plating nine runs — including four in the bottom of the sixth for the 9-6 victory over Luther.
 
Luther grabbed the upper hand early, scoring five times in the top of the third inning. SMU responded with two runs in its half of the third — including an RBI single by Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) — before pulling within one, 5-4, with single runs in the fourth and fifth.
 
The Norse extended their lead to 6-4 with a single run in the sixth, before the Cardinals took over — getting a home run off the bat of French and a bases-clearing, three-run triple by Samya Brown (Chicago, Ill.).
 
French led the Cardinals' 12-hit attack, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Lizzie Pike finished 2-for-2 and added a pair of runs scored. Steffes, Methner, Berg, Nordlund, Brown, Emily Bonk, and Allison Ciero (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) also collected hits for SMU.
 
The Cardinals (7-1 overall) are now off until March 4, when they square off against Thomas College and Emmanuel College (Mass.) to kick off their spring trip to Clermont, Fla.
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