1	2	3	4	5	6	7				R	H	E
Saint Mary's	0	1	1	0	0	0	0				2	9	5
Wheaton	2	0	0	0	0	0	1				3	5	1

Heartbreaking loss to Wheaton tough way for SMU seniors to end their careers

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — When the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team locked up its fifth straight NCAA post-season tournament berth, senior centerfielder Jennifer Meyer (Oconomowoc, Wis.) vowed to make her final appearance her best.

She did.

Unfortunately, the fact that she collected 12 hits in 25 at-bats, scored five runs and stole a pair of bases in SMU's seven post-season games seemed to lose a little of its luster considering Meyer's performance wasn't enough to carry the Cardinals to a second straight NCAA Division III national title.

SMU saw its season come to a screeching halt Saturday, as the Cardinals dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to Wheaton in a game that saw Saint Mary's commit five errors — including two that triggered the Lyons' decisive seventh-inning rally.

"I wanted this to be my best tournament ever, but I wanted my best to help us win it all again," said Meyer, who went 8-for-15 in SMU's four games at the eight-team national championships, after helping the Cardinals win their second straight Midwest Regional title with three straight wins a week ago., "When it comes right down to it, it doesn't matter how well I do, it's how the team does that matters."

Saturday's loss also marked the end of the road for fellow team captain Jill Hocking (Apple Valley, Minn.). And, like Meyer, Hocking would trade any of her impressive national-tournament numbers — not to mention any of the numerous post-season honors she has already accumulated — for a chance to still be playing.

"It's hard," admitted Hocking, tears welling up in her eyes. "Our goal all season was to win a national championship … . I don't know what happened, it just seemed like everything that could go wrong did — and it all went wrong at the same time."

Talk about your case of bad timing.

The Cardinals entered the national tournament as the nation's best fielding team, only to commit 11 errors in their fourth national tournament games. Offensively, the Cardinals pounded out a tournament-leading 42 hits, but only had 16 runs to show for their efforts — including 10 runs in the 10-6 win over North Central in a loser's bracket elimination game on Saturday.

"I thought the North Central game got our offense back on track," said SMU coach Nikki Fennern, whose team banged out 15 hits against N.C. — including a 4-for-4 performance from Jackie Huegel (Alta Vista, Iowa), who extended that streak to six consecutive hits in her first two appearances against Wheaton. "But for as well as we played defensively, we let (North Central) hang around by committing three errors.

"We just never seemed to bunch our hits together," continued Fennern, whose team put runners on base in 12 of the 14 innings in their two losses — a 2-0 loss to Muskingum on Friday and the 3-2 loss to Wheaton. "It seemed like everything abandoned us at the same time — our hitting, our fielding … .

"It was like I was stuck in a bad dream."

Unfortunately, a quick pinch of the arm told Fennern that she wasn't dreaming.

"There isn't a player on this team who isn't disappointed, hurt, frustrated … you named it," said Meyer. "We've worked so hard all season to get back (to the national tournament) and defend our title. It's pretty hard to take."

For now.

"It's pretty hard to find a silver lining," admitted Hocking. "But I'm sure there will come a time when we'll be able to look back and be happy with what we've accomplished."

After all, no matter how disappointing it may seem right now — finishing fourth in the nation is certainly nothing to hang your head about.