Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont's Alexis Sundeen aims for the ball during Monday afternoon's contest against Tri-City United at Cardinal Park.

FAIRMONT – The cardiac Cardinals strike again. Bria Williamson’s 2 RBI single in the home half of the seventh inning pushed the Fairmont softball team ahead of Tri-City United for an 8-7 victory at Cardinal Park on Monday afternoon. This is the Cardinals’ second walk-off victory in the past two weeks, moving to 12-3 on the season and winners of their past five contests.

“We’ve had a real track record over the past two or three weeks of scoring runs late in games,” Fairmont softball head coach Cory Hainy said.

Indeed, they have. Hainy’s team hasn’t wavered much when facing a deficit late in the contest, especially when playing at home. Tonight was no exception.

Fairmont temporarily staved off the Titans after a powerful fifth inning gave them some breathing room. With two outs on the board, Brylee Miller put a charge into a ball that skyrocketed over the Cardinals’ emblem in right-center field, rounding second base before the ball even landed.

This sparked the rest of Fairmont’s batting order significantly. Ariel Oskerson delivered the final strike of the frame with her hard ground ball flying through the infield to bring in Lexi Sundeen and Williamson from the basepaths.

“I thought we hit the ball pretty aggressively,” Hainy said. “We hit a lot of balls hard, I thought, even a couple of balls we got out on.”

With Miller continuing to deliver in the circle, a 6-2 lead after five innings seemed to be a recipe for success. But the Titans’ batting order refused to give up against the hard-throwing right-hander.

A single into shallow left field and a four-pitch walk to Laynee Blaschko and Cristina Cruz showed an immediate sign of offense for TCU with only one out. The Titans then rattled off three consecutive hits to pounce on Miller, with Claire Hoefs’ 2 RBI double evening the game up at six apiece.

Two batters later, Layla Sycks hit a hard grounder that got past Williamson on first base, bringing home Hoefs from second and giving TCU its first lead of the night. A four-run Fairmont cushion turned into a deficit just like that.

“If you told me [before the game] that we would be up 6-2 going into the seventh and Brylee on the mound, I’d say I’ll take that all day, every day,” Hainy said. “We just couldn’t find ways to get people out. Some of the same girls we got out on similar pitches, and they were hitting it hard. They really rallied, and I tip my hat to them.”

The first person to answer the rally call was Miller. There wasn’t any room for the last inning. Just a response. Facing a 2-2 count, the senior delivered yet again for Fairmont, shooting a double over the right-fielder’s glove and giving the offense life.

Sundeen responded by finding first base after her second walk of the game. Three pitches later, Williamson slapped the ball directly up the middle and past any Titan defenders.

Miller scored with ease from second. TCU catcher Cruz fired a throw to third base in hopes of stopping Sundeen from advancing. The ball went beyond the reach of any black jerseys in the area, trickling down the left foul line to give Sundeen plenty of time to touch home.

The entire Cardinal dugout erupted in celebration, including a joyous Hainy running towards home in jubilation. It was just like he drew it up.

“It’s a great sign of perseverance and toughness, so we’ll take it,” Hainy said with a laugh. “They’re a good team. We knew they would be tough. But a win is a win, and we will take it any way we can get it.”

Fairmont hopes to keep its momentum going this Thursday with a home contest against Maple River at Cardinal Park. First pitch is slated for 5:30 p.m.