Cardinal bats steal two from Fairfield

Cardinal jumped out strong early, and had the bats to outlast Fairfield to sweep a late-night doubleheader Wednesday.

The Comets led the whole way to take a 10-5 win in game one before getting the last laugh in a back-and-forth nightcap to win 13-9.

Brittany Craff?s grand slam home run put Fairfield ahead 5-0 in the second inning of game two, but Cardinal took back the lead, lost the lead and finally took it back for good in the top of the fifth.

?We just kept coming back, coming back, coming back. That?s a sign we?re getting better,? said Cardinal head coach Darren Hill. ?It?s tough to get down so much in the second inning, but good things can happen when you put the ball in play.?

Felisha Durflinger hit a towering home run as part of a six-run fourth inning for the Comets as they crept ahead 8-5. Fairfield answered in the bottom half with four runs capped by Taylor Neil?s two-RBI single to score Tori Ogden and Craff.

But once again, Cardinal had more coming.

?It seemed like every time we did something positive on offense, we would come out and give up a hit, then walk a girl and make an error or two,? said Fairfield head coach Bob Bradfield. ?We just kept replaying that.?

Cory Campbell ripped a two-RBI double with no outs to plate Laci Moore and Sarah Greiner to put the Comets up 10-9 and give a lead they would never give back. Cardinal?s three insurance runs that followed turned out to be unnecessary as Laci Moore got starting pitcher Allison Ollom out of a jam in the fifth and cruised the rest of the way.

Ollom ended up as the winning pitcher as Moore pitched the final three innings allowing three hits and walking none.

?Laci warms her arm up pretty quickly and she throws strikes,? Hill said. ?I knew they were going to still hit the ball, so I put it on the defense, and it happened to be the right decision.?

Greiner and Lindsay Moore both had three hits for Cardinal in the game, Cory Campbell tallied four RBI and Durflinger?s two-run homer helped her go 2-3 and score three runs.

Craff?s totaled five RBI for Fairfield, and the long ball was her sixth of the year and 12th of her career, which both extend the school records she set last Friday in a win over Cedar Rapids Prairie.

In the opener, Cardinal had no trouble getting to Fairfield starter Haley Grunwald early and a total of seven Trojan errors only helped. The Comets jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two turns at bat and added more when Fairfield cut the lead down to one. Lindsay Moore roped a two-RBI double in the top of the sixth to get Cardinal back to a three-run cushion.

Durflinger went all seven innings in the pitcher?s circle allowing six hits and striking out three to earn the win.

Mackenzie McClure hit an RBI double for one of her two hits to lead Fairfield at the plate. Marisa Repp also had two hits and drove in one.

For Cardinal, it was just its third night doubleheader of the year, and after playing past 10 p.m., the Comets turned around and traveled to Harmony for a make-up game a 11 a.m. They will then play at the Ottumwa Classic Friday and Saturday.

Fairfield has another doubleheader on tap for tonight as it travels to take on No. 6 Keokuk.

Fairfield vs. Cardinal (1st game)

Cardinal ? 3 2 0 0 0 5 0 ? 10 9 4

Fairfield ? 0 0 0 1 3 0 1 ? 5 6 7

CARDINAL ? La. Moore 2-4, RBI, 2R; Greiner 3-4, 2RBI, 2R; Durflinger 0-3, BB; Li. Moore 2-4, 2RBI, 2R; Campbell 0-3, BB, R; Nichols 1-4, 2RBI; Aschenbrenner 0-4; Ollum 1-3, BB, 2R; Bennett 1-4, R

Pitching ? Durflinger (W) 7 INN, 6H, 3BB, 7K, 2ER

FAIRFIELD ? Repp 2-4, RBI, R; Anderson 0-4, R; Ogden 0-2, 2BB, R; Craff 1-4; McClure 2-4, 2B, RBI; Neil 0-3, BB, R; Burnett 0-4; H. Williams 1-3; Schwarz 0-3, R

Pitching ? Grunwald (L) 7 INN, 9H, 3BB, 4K, 7ER

Fairfield vs. Cardinal (2nd game)

Cardinal ? 0 0 2 6 5 0 0 ? 13 14 3

Fairfield ? 0 5 0 4 0 0 0 ? 9 9 5

CARDINAL ? La. Moore 1-4, BB, 2R; Greiner 3-5, 2B, RBI, R; Campbell 2-5, 4RBI, 3R; Li. Moore 3-4, 2RBI, 2R; Durflinger 2-3, BB, HP, HR, 2RBI, 3R; Nichols 1-4, BB, 3B, 2RBI; Aschenbrenner 0-4, HP; Ollom 2-4, BB; Bennett 0-2, BB, HP, R; Moses R

Pitching ? Ollom (W) 4 INN, 6H, 4BB, K, 7ER; La. Moore 3 INN, 3H, K, 0ER

FAIRFIELD ? Repp 1-4, 2B, 2R; Anderson 1-2, BB, R; Ogden 1-4, RBI, 2R; Craff 1-2, 2BB, 5RBI, 2R; McClure 1-3, BB, RBI; Neil 1-4, 2RBI; Burnett 0-3; Manning 0-2; K. Williams 1-3, HP, R; Schwarz 2-2; Burkhart R

Pitching ? McClure (L) 4 INN, 12H, 3BB, 2ER; Grunwald 3 INN, 2H, BB, 2ER