SMU at UW-Stout / Saturday, March 24, 2007

vs.
GAME 1
1
2
 3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Saint Mary's
1
0
1
3
4
0
0
9
12
0
UW-Stout
0
0
0
0
4
0
0
4
6
4
GameDay / Official Box Score / Game Highlights: Nikki Jung: 3-for-4, 2 RBIs; Melissa Mondo, SMU: 2-for-3, 3 RBIs; Hannah Schmitt, SMU: 2-for-1, RBI; Megan Wallisch, SMU: 5.1`IP, 4 Ks, 0 BB

vs.
GAME 2
1
2
 3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Saint Mary's
3
0
0
5
0
1
0
9
14
3
UW-Stout
0
0
0
0
2
0
1
3
6
2
GameDay / Official Box Score / Game Highlights: Nikki Jung, 1-for-3, BB, 4 RBIs, grand slam HR; Cassie Otte, SMU: 4-for-5, double, 2 runs; Melissa Mondo, SMU: 2-for-5, 2 RBIs, 2 runs


Jung swings hot bat as SMU pushes winning streak to 4 with sweep of Stout

MENOMONIE, Wis. — Saint Mary's University's Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) enjoyed a sizzling start to her senior fastpitch softball season, belting nine hits in 17 at-bats (.529) with a pair of doubles, a grand slam home run and 9 RBIs during the Cardinals' six games at the NFCA Lead-Off Classic two weeks ago in Panama City Beach, Fla.

The weather was a bit cooler when the Cardinals returned to the field Saturday afternoon for their nonconference doubleheader at UW-Stout — but Jung's bat hadn't cooled one bit.

The SMU senior banged out four hits in seven at-bats — including her second grand slam home run of the season — and drove in six runs to lead the Cardinals to a 9-4, 9-3 sweep of the Blue Devils.

"It was nice just to get a couple of games in — it's been a pretty wild couple of days," said SMU coach Jen Miller, whose team, along with the Blue Devils, was supposed to take part in the two-day Coe Tournament, but rainy weather and poor field conditions forced the cancellation of the tournament, leaving Miller to scramble to find a place to play. "We could have used four games this weekend, like we would have gotten at Coe, but at least we got two games in."

Which may have been good for the Cardinals, but probably wasn't so good for the Blue Devils.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the game's first three innings in the opener — getting an RBI single from Jung in the first and an RBI double by Tara Close (North St. Paul, Minn.) in the third — before breaking the game open with three runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth. Melissa Mondo (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) highlighted the three-run fourth with a two-run double, while SMU took advantage of a pair of UW-Stout errors to plate its four runs in the fifth.

And the Cardinals picked up right where they left off in the nightcap, scoring three times in the first, before Jung highlighted SMU's five-run third inning with her grand slam to right-center.

"Offensively, I was very happy with the way we played," said Miller, whose team has now won four straight heading into Wednesday's MIAC opener against St. Thomas at the SMU Field. "Hopefully that will continue (Wednesday) against St. Thomas.

"We started the season a little slow, but we seem to be coming around nicely."