WINONA, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's University and Gustavus fastpitch softball team squared off during the regular season, the teams traded one-run victories — SMU collected a 2-1 win in Game 1 of the teams' MIAC doubleheader on April 9, with GAC bouncing back with a 1-0 win in the nightcap.
So it should have come as no surprise if the teams' MIAC Playoff semifinal showdown Saturday afternoon at the Saint Mary's Field was another white-knuckle nail-biter.
And while the third meeting may not have ended in a one-run decision, it was most definitely a third consecutive white-knuckle nail-biter.
The Cardinals got a two-run home run home run from
Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.) and
Makayla Steffes (Winona, Minn.) tossed a complete-game four-hitter, as Saint Mary's outlasted Gustavus 3-1 in the first of two semifinal games at the SMU Field.
Top-seeded Saint Mary's (30-9 overall) advances to the Playoffs' championship game, and will face either second-seeded Saint Benedict or third-seeded Bethel for the right to represent the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference at the NCAA Division III national tournament.
The Cardinals collected the game's first hit on a lead-off single by
Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.), but pinch-runner
Karli Zetah (Goodhue, Minn.) was stranded after stealing second and advancing to third on a groundout.
Saint Mary's put the lead-off runner on again in the fourth on a single by
Megan McGinnis (Appleton, Minn.) — and this time the Cardinals cashed in. After GAC pitcher Maize Anderson got Berg to go down on strikes for the second out, Nordlund uncorked a bomb to deep right field to give SMU a 2-0 advantage.
Lauren Lambert broke up Steffes' no-hit bid with a one-out single up the middle in the fifth, and Greta Dahlen followed suit with GAC's second straight single. Steffes induced a fielder's choice groundout to record the second out, but Macy McNally laced an RBI single through the left side to get the Gusties within one, 2-1.
Saint Mary's answered with a two-out rally of its own in the bottom of the fifth. A walk to
Abbie Stigler (Menomonee Falls, Wis.), a single by Steffes and a GAC error loaded the bases, and
Naleya Bork (De Pere, Wis.) worked a full-count walk to score Stigler and push SMU's lead back to two, 3-1.
And that was all the cushion Steffes would need, as the freshman right-hander set the Gusties down in order in the sixth, and faced just five batters in the seventh to seal the semifinal victory.
Saint Mary's five hits against Anderson came from five different players — Nordlund, Steffes, McGinnis, Berg, and
Ali French (Winona, Minn.) — with French belting a double and Nordlund the game-winning two-run HR.
Steffes held GAC to four hits — all singles — while walking two and striking out six in notching her 14th complete game and improving to 16-4 on the year.
