ABOVE: Fairmont’s Gwyn Schultz glides over a bat to beat the tag of Jordan’s Carley Johnson to make it a 2-0 ballgame. Though Fairmont got out to an early lead, they lost 4-2.

FAIRMONT — After getting out to an early lead, the second-seeded Fairmont Cardinals fell to seventh-seeded Jordan in a Section 2AA Softball Tournament game 4-2 Friday.

Brylle Miller took the loss for the Cardinals in a complete game, recording six strikeouts, gave up no earned runs, and had no walks.

Fairmont got the ball rolling in the first, with Brylee Miller driving in Gwyn Schultz on a line drive to make it 1-0.

The next run came in the third inning, with the same players making the impact. This time, Schultz hit a triple. With Miller hitting a sacrifice fly, Schultz was able to run home on a bang-bang play at the plate to make it a 2-0 ballgame.

Tides turned toward Jordan in the fourth. A single by Brooke Wacker and double from Carley Johnson set up Kacie Schroeder to drive both of them home on a double. Lilli Lynch singled to bring Schroeder home and make it a 3-2 game. A flyout and lineout stymied Jordan’s run.

Jordan tacked on another run in the fifth. Leadoff batter London Kraml reached on an error, and with two outs, Johnson drove a double to bring Kraml in, making it a 4-2 game. The Cardinals got a strikeout to end the inning.

Fairmont got chances to take the lead back throughout the game. In the fourth, Gabby Leiding hit a triple with a runner already on base, but the runner was tagged out at home. The fifth saw the bases loaded with two outs due to multiple walks. A strongly-hit flyout ended the rally there.

Both teams were stymied by pitching in the sixth and seventh, leaving the final score at 4-2.

Head Coach Cory Hainy said it was a hard-fought game against a tough opponent.

“We knew Jordan was going to be good,” he said. “Their record wasn’t great, but we knew they play a lot of really tough teams, so we certainly did not underestimate them. We’re going to have to come ready to play tomorrow. I told the girls we were hoping to go tomorrow where we only had to win one to keep alive, but now we have to win twice. That’s the only difference.”

The Cardinals (13-8) play their next game Saturday at Caswell Park in Mankato at 2 p.m. If they win that, they play their next game right after. If they lose either game, their season is over