HASTINGS, Neb. – With the wind blowing in hard from left field on Saturday, College of Saint Mary and Hastings College engaged in a rarity – a softball doubleheader in which only two runs were scored.

Hastings won the Great Plains Athletic Conference opener 1-0, and the Flames returned the favor by the same score in game two to earn a split at the Smith Softball Complex.

"I'm proud of the ladies for battling back to win the second game after the tough loss,'' CSM Coach Carolyn Todd Bray said. "It was tough out there today! I do think we are playing some of our best softball right now.''

CSM moved its records to 7-26 overall and 5-11 in the GPAC, while Hastings is now 19-19 and 7-11.

In game two, the Flames scored the only run they would need with one out in the top of the third when Ella Watts smashed a solo homer to right field, her team-leading sixth of the season.

That was enough offense for Megan Garcia, who fired a complete-game shutout, scattering four hits while striking out two and walking two.

"Megan pitched a fantastic game, and Ella's home run was enough scoring for us to win it,'' Bray said. "In the second game, we did a better job with the wind. Our outfielders also had a great day.''

In the opener, Hastings strung together three straight singles in the second inning to score the game's only run. Shaylynn Campbell allowed just one earned run on seven hits, striking out four and walking none to take the tough-luck loss.

"Shay pitched well enough to keep us in the game, but we couldn't make the adjustments to score,'' Bray said.

Paige Stuck had the only extra-base hit for the Flames with a double, while Watts, Cassie Wiseman and Macy Santoni also had hits, but the visitors couldn't turn them into any runs.

"We thought we were prepared with a strong game plan after warmups, but we couldn't execute the game plan,'' Bray said. "We hit 13 flyouts in game one into the wind that just sat up there forever to get caught. And that cost us.

"Macy Santoni, Kayla Reed and Cassie Wiseman all had big catches in one inning to get us back on offense. We are also finding creative ways to use substitutions to get our best hitters more at-bats and get our best defensive players more innings in the field.''

CSM returns home for GPAC doubleheaders on Monday against Midland University and Tuesday against Waldorf University. Both twinbills are scheduled for 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.