Keeping their positive rhythm going
vital for Cardinals against River Falls

WINONA, Minn. — It’s been said that numbers don’t lie — just ask the last 10 teams to have faced the Saint Mary’s University fastpitch softball team.

Here’s how the Cardinals’ numbers have added up over the past 24 days (since a 3-1 Game 1 loss to St. Thomas on April 4) – much to the dismay of the opponents they have left by the wayside in the process:

• 21 straight wins.

• 11 games decided by the mercy rule — including last Saturday’s 8-0, six-inning and 9-1, five-inning wins over Concordia.

• 153 runs scored.

• 17 runs allowed — including two or fewer runs allowed in 19 of those 21 games.

• 199 hits.

• 78 hits allowed — including back-to-back no-hitters against Macalester, four one-hitters and two two-hitters.

• 8 errors — one more than Concordia committed in a 9-1 loss to the Cardinals in Game 2 of last Saturday’s MIAC game.

Can you say dominating?

“Right now, everything seems to be coming together,” admitted SMU coach Nikki Fennern, whose team disposed of Hamline, St. Catherine and Concordia — allowing just two runs in the six games — last week. “Our bats are back — not that they ever left, but we are swinging more like we were earlier in the year, when we were hitting the cover off the ball.”

“I’ve said all along that the key for us is to get into a positive rhythm, and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

Much to the dismay of the rest of the conference.

The Cardinals, who can clinch a share of the MIAC title by winning their final four conference games — Wednesday at St. Benedict and Saturday at home against Bethel — have been on a mission since dropping their conference-opener against St. Thomas.

In a league where the conference champion could very well finish with just one loss, falling in their first MIAC game of the season certainly put the Cardinals’ backs to the wall.

And they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I hate to keep sounding like a broken record, but this team thrives on pressure,” said Fennern, whose team steps out of conference play this afternoon for a key regional confrontation with UW-River Falls. “We know the importance of staying focused and making sure to take things one game at a time, but following the loss to St. Thomas, everyone on this team knew what we had to do, it was no secret — we had to win every (conference) game.”

Which is exactly what they’ve done – and what Fennern expects her team to continue to do.

“We’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us,” admitted Fennern, whose defending national champions have been the nation’s top-ranked team since the preseason USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll was released in mid-February. “Everything we’ve accomplished to this point is great, but we certainly can’t sit back, relax and expect (the Cardinals’ final three regular-season opponents) to roll over and play dead for us.

“We’ve got to keep that positive rhythm going.”