WINONA, Minn. - The Saint Mary's softball team kept fans on edge during the final day of the DIII Saint Mary's Softball Regionals. 

After dropping their first game since March 6th, the Saint Mary's softball team bounced back and secured a spot in the NCAA DIII Softball Super Regionals for the third time in program history after a split day against Simpson College.

The Cardinals, serving as the host team, entered the tournament as the top seed, while the Storm held the second seed.

GAME ONE

The Cardinals fell just short against Simpson College in a tight 3-2 loss for the Cardinals first game of the day. Simpson struck first with a run in the opening inning.

Saint Mary's responded in the fifth, capitalizing on an error and getting an RBI single from Allison Ciero to even things up at 2-2. 

That's when the Storm didn't waste any time reclaiming the lead, scoring twice in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI double.

From there, both teams were quiet, and the game wrapped up with Simpson holding on for the 3-2 win, snapping the Cardinals 33 game win streak, tying a program best.

Lucky for the Cardinals, it was double elimination and they were undefeated at the time and had one to give up. 

GAME TWO

Makayla Steffes delivered a standout all-around performance for Saint Mary's, dominating both in the circle and at the plate earning Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

She pitched a complete game, giving up just five hits and two earned runs over seven innings while striking out two in the team's big comeback win.

The Cardinals came out firing in the first inning. After Steffes singled and stole second, Peyton Berg blasted a two-run homer to give Saint Mary's an early 2–0 lead, the first home run for the team this regional.

Simpson answered with a run in the bottom half, trimming the lead to 2–1.

In the third, the Cardinals took advantage of an error and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Abbie Stigler came around to score on a hit-by-pitch to Zoe Fink, making it 3–1.

Saint Mary's kept the pressure on in the sixth stretching the lead to 5–1.

It was a big seventh inning as the Cardinals blew it open with a five-run outburst. 

Steffes crushed a three-run double, Berg followed with an RBI double, and Stigler capped it off with another RBI single, pushing the score to 10–1.

Simpson tacked on a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn't enough to slow the Cardinals, who wrapped up a commanding 10–2 win to punch their ticket to the NCAA Super Regionals with location to be determined.

The Cardinals are charting a path reminiscent of the 2000 National Championship team, securing  just the second 40-win season in program history and earning a spot in the Super Regionals.

Looking ahead, the Saint Mary's softball team is set to face the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the opening game of the Super Regionals on Thursday, May 22 at 2:00 p.m.