CRETE, Neb. – After losing a tightly contested opener Wednesday and then falling behind 5-1 after one inning in game two, the College of Saint Mary softball team faced a steep uphill climb.

With some inspired play, the Flames made that climb and registered a hard-earned Great Plains Athletic Conference split.

Ella Watts alertly tied the game in the fifth inning by stealing home, and later in the inning Paige Stuck laced the go-ahead, two-run double to right, helping CSM earn a 9-7 victory over Doane University.

The Tigers won the opener, 6-4. Doane ended the day 14-15 overall and 6-4 in the GPAC, while CSM now stands at 3-16 and 1-3.

"We are super proud of our team for getting that win, especially after we were down 5-1,'' CSM Coach Carolyn Todd Bray said. "We needed that win.''

Trailing by four early in game two, the pitching of Victoria Placzek and Ella Watts allowed the Flames to battle back. Placzek allowed two earned runs in 4.1 innings of relief to get the win, while Watts recorded the final five outs, surrendering no runs and one hit to pick up the save.

"Tori and Ella both pitched absolutely great in relief!'' Bray said.

The CSM offense came to life. Amber Kosmicki smacked a solo homer in the second to cut it to 5-2. Maycee Hays' RBI single scored Watts, who had doubled, in the third inning to make it 5-3. Stuck bashed a two-run homer in the fourth to square things at 5-5.

After Doane took a 6-5 lead, the Flames took the lead for good in the fifth. Watts was smartly sent home by assistant coach Chad Bray when no one was covering the plate after a throwing error to tie the game. With two outs and two on, Stuck ripped a two-run double down the right-field line for an 8-6 lead. Kosmicki added a sacrifice fly in the seventh to score Kayla Reed with an insurance run.

In the bottom of the seventh, Doane had the tying run at the plate with one out, but Watts backhanded a comebacker and fired to Kosmicki at first for the second out. Kosmicki threw to Stuck at the plate, who tagged out the runner for a game-ending double play.

After facing a slew of nationally rated teams recently, Carolyn Bray said those experiences paid off on Wednesday.

"Great double play to end the game,'' she said. "This was definitely a team effort!''

In game two, Stuck was 2 for 4 with four RBI, while Kosmicki finished 2 for 3 with two RBI. Watts ended 2 for 3 with three runs scored while Maria Perez was 2 for 4.

In the opener, CSM held a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth. But Bri True stroked a two-run homer and Jasmine Villegas followed with a solo homer for a 6-4 Doane lead, and the hosts held on for the win.

Bray said the Flames had plenty of highlights in the opener. Watts opened the game with a solo homer. Reed made a great diving catch. Megan Garcia had a clutch throw to the plate to save a run. Shaylynn Campbell and Cassie Wiseman recorded a double play after a failed bunt attempt. And Claire Koile turned in some great baserunning to get CSM an extra run.

Hays and Macy Santoni had two hits and an RBI apiece in the opener.

"We did a lot of good things, but we had some errors at key times that cost us,'' Bray said.

CSM will play its first home games of the season on Friday, hosting Northwestern College in a GPAC doubleheader at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. The games originally were scheduled for Saturday, but were moved up with better weather in the forecast.