Cardinals show their true colors in
beating Central to move to title game

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — What a difference a day makes.

Just 24 hours after turning in what coach John Tschida called "the worst performance in my six years here as head coach," the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team returned to the form that had made them the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Midwest Regional Saturday.

Gone was the three-ring circus of missed grounders, botched throws and uncharacteristic mental lapses that dogged Saint Mary's in their six-error, 5-4 victory over Benedictine on Friday afternoon.

In its place was a well-oiled machine that could do no wrong, as the Cardinals scored all their runs in the third inning and rode the three-hit pitching of senior Teisha Smith to a 3-0 victory over Central-Iowa — and moved within one win of the school's first-ever national-tournament appearance.

"It's like I told the ladies before the game, it's time to put up or shut up," said Tschida, whose team will face the winner of the Coe-Central game this afternoon at 2 p.m. If the Cardinals win, it's on to Salem, Va., for the Division III national championship. An SMU loss would mean an if necessary game on Monday at 10 a.m. "There are no more ifs, ands or buts. We have to go out there and play the game the way we are capable of playing — not try to do it, but go out and do it.

"Everyone here knew how poorly we played (vs. Benedictine), our job was to come out and prove that that performance was a fluke."

They did — thanks in part to some phenomenal plays that turned Friday's "goats" into Saturday's heroes.

Freshman third baseman Gina Rizzardi atoned for her two-error effort against Benedictine by collecting a pair of putouts — one on a diving tag of Central's Mandy Jens trying to steal third in the top of the first and the other on a line shot off the bat of Central's Donell Hotze that started a crucial, inning-ending double play in the sixth.

Fellow freshman Jackie Huegel also struggled against Benedictine, booting a pair of ground balls. But with that first collegiate post-season appearance under her belt, Huegel was flawless against the Dutch. Add to that the fact that the Cardinal shortstop drove in the game-winning run to start SMU's three-run fourth inning, and it was obvious that the tournament jitters were a thing of the past.

"Everyone kind of figured I'd be nervous (against Benedictine), but I didn't think I would be — until I stepped on the field," admitted Rizzardi, one of three freshmen infielders who start for the Cardinals. "And that's the way I played, nervous. Today, I just told myself it was just another game, just like any of the other 40 games we've played this year.

"I just played the way I knew I could play."

As did the rest of the Cardinals.

And, with the defense back to its airtight self, and Smith keeping the Dutch off the base paths, Tschida knew it would only be a matter of time before the Cardinals' offense would do its part.

"We're a good hitting team, probably one of the best around," understated Tschida, whose team entered the tournament hitting .366, but had managed just two hits — a two-out single by Jill Hocking in the first and a one-out single by Niki Lynch in the second — against Central through the first three innings. "I knew we'd get our chances. We just had to make sure to stay poised and confident at the plate. Our time would come."

And it did in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Jennifer Meyer reached on an error to start the inning, moved to second on a single by Hocking and scored on a one-out single by Huegel. Lynch's second single of the day loaded the bases, and then the Cardinals got the break they needed as Central catcher Annie Van Wetzinga could not handle the throw on a come-backer to pitcher April Miller, allowing both Hocking and Huegel to score.

"Obviously that was a big inning for us," said Tschida, whose team has now won 11 straight and 22 of their last 23. "Jackie's single was a big hit, and that's something we've done all season — get the clutch hits when we've needed them.

"And Teisha pitched a very good game," continued Tschida, whose senior pitcher struck out three and did not walk a batter, while allowing just five balls to leave the infield. "She did a good job of keeping the lead-off batter off base (only once did a Dutch lead-off hitter reach first), which meant (Central) could get it's running game going. And to beat a team like Central, which relies so heavily on the bunt, the fake-bunt-and-hit, and the stolen base, keeping them off the bases is the first step."

A step that not only meant the downfall of the Dutch, but also the rise of the Cardinals' dream to reach their ultimate destination — the national championship.