ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team erupted for a season-high 18 runs—including 11 in the fourth inning alone—in the opening game of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Macalester.
 
And 18 runs almost weren't enough.
 
Almost.
 
The Cardinals, who led 15-0 after three-and-a-half innings, survived Macalester's 15-run rally to hand the Scots a wild, 18-15 setback in Game 1.
 
Saint Mary's took the more traditional route in the nightcap, scoring two runs in both the second and fifth innings, and adding a solo run in the seventh in completing the conference sweep with a 5-1 victory.
 
Mariah Harper (Schaumburg, Ill.) got the Cardinals' offense rolling, delivering a two-run triple to give Saint Mary's a 2-0 lead after its first at-bat. Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) made it 4-0 with a two-run home runs—her third of the year—in the second inning.
 
Those four runs, however, paled in comparison to what the Cardinals did in the fourth, as Saint Mary's sent 16 batters to the plate—scoring 11 times on seven hits to take what appeared to be a commanding 15-0 advantage.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, things aren't always as they appear.
 
Macalester scored four runs in the fourth, five in the fifth and three in the sixth—while the Cardinals managed single runs in the fifth and sixth—and suddenly it was a 17-12.
 
Saint Mary's added another sole run in the seventh on a Raske RBI single, but the Scots decided to make things interesting, as Hali Englert launched a one-out, three-run home run to make it a three-run 18-15 advantage.
 
That was as close as the Scots would get, however, as Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) induced a groundout and a strikeout to end the threat.
 
Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn. led the Cardinals' 16-hit attack with four hits in five at-bats with three RBIs and three runs scored, while Raske was 3-for-3 with three RBIs and rive runs, and Harper was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and two runs.
 
After scoring in six of the game's seven innings in the opener, the Cardinals needed just three innings to score enough wins to seal the sweep-clinching victory.
 
Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) belted her first collegiate run in the second inning to give Saint Mary's a 2-0 lead, and a Betzold RBI single and a Scot error pushed that lead to 4-0 in the fifth. Both teams would plate solo runs in the seventh—the Cardinals' on a Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) run-scoring single—to round out the scoring.
 
Birkhauser and Betzold each had two hits for the Cardinals in Game 2, with Raske, Opsahl, Harper, Aldrich, and Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.) accounting for the other five.
 
Betzold went the distance to earn her 13th win of the season, allowing one run on six hits, while walking one and striking out six.
 
The Cardinals (10-10 MIAC, 16-16 overall) are back in action on Saturday, as they host Concordia in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader at the Saint Mary's Field.