ST. PAUL, Minn. — After 10 straight games played inside domes across southern Minnesota, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team finally got to play outside with the sun shining and temperatures in the 50s.
Unfortunately for Saint Mary's, while Mother Nature may have finally cooperated with near-ideal playing conditions, the Cardinals' bats stayed in hibernation Thursday afternoon.
The Cardinals scored the game's first run in their first at-bat, but that would be the highlight of the afternoon, as the Tommies—ranked No. 14 in the latest NFCA Top 25—scored the next 13 runs in sweeping Saint Mary's 10-1 and 3-0.
The Cardinals, playing as the home team—despite the games being held at St. Thomas Field—struck first in the opener, taking advantage of a St. Thomas error to plate an unearned run.
From there, it would be all St. Thomas, as the Cardinals would manage just four Game 1 hits off a pair of St. Thomas pitchers—two off the bat of
Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn.) and the other two coming from
Shayley Vesel (Austin, Minn.) and
Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn.).
St. Thomas meanwhile, answered the Cardinals' one-run first with five runs in the second, two in the third, and three more in the fourth in sealing the five-inning victory.
And the Tommies would plate the only runs of the nightcap, scoring single runs in the third, fourth and seventh innings in the nightcap.
After collecting four hits in the opener, Saint Mary's managed just two hits off UST hurler Hayley Dunning in Game 2. Schultz led off the game with a single—her third hit of the afternoon—while Gudmundson added a bunt single to open the second.
The Cardinals (4-6 MIAC, 10-16 overall) are back in action this weekend, heading to Minneapolis, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader against Augsburg on Saturday, before returning home to Saint Mary's Field—weather permitting—for a 1 p.m. MIAC twinbill against St. Catherine the following afternoon.
