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ST. LOUIS, Mo. — It wasn't perfection, but it was close to it.

The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team was virtually unstoppable during the Marriott West Tournament last weekend, picking up three straight wins against Maryville (7-0), Cornell (6-1) and host Washington University (3-2). East Texas Baptist University, however, put an end to SMU's perfect run, scoring twice in the fifth and once in the seventh for a 4-2 victory.

"We played very well," said SMU coach Nikki Fennern, whose team improved to 4-2 overall. "We hit the ball pretty well, and our pitching was good. The only disappointing part of the whole weekend is we gave (East Texas Baptist) that last game. We beat ourselves in that one, and that's a little frustrating."

Jackie Huegel (Alta Vista, Iowa) led the Cardinals' offensive attack, hitting .545 (6-for-11) with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored. Huegel, a junior, went 1-for-3 vs. Maryville, added a 1-for-2 effort vs. Cornell, then went 2-for-3 vs. Washington University and 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles vs. East Texas Baptist. Jennifer Miller (Winona, Minn.) also had a stellar weekend at the plate, collecting five hits in 13 at-bats (.385) with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored.

The Cardinal pitching staff was also rather impressive, as Jennifer Gonerka (St. Paul, Minn.) allowed just three earned runs in 17.0 innings, posting a 1.24 ERA and seven strikeouts in her three appearances. Stacy O'Malley (Lake Elmo, Minn.), meanwhile, notched nine strikeouts in seven innings, while Lindsay Mamer (Mankato, Minn.) did not allow a run and struck out two in four innings.

"This was a good tournament for us — a good chance for us to get some games under out belt and see where we're at," said Fennern, whose team returns to action on Friday, when the Cardinals take on Millikin and Webster in the opening round of the Washington University Tournament in St. Louis, Mo. "Obviously there are still some things we need to work on, but overall I thought we did a very good job — it was a good tournament and I'm happy with the way we performed."