Game 1 Boxscore / Game 2 Boxscore

ST. PETER, Minn. — It had been eight days since the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team had played a game.

And for the first 12 innings of Tuesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Gustavus, it showed.

The Cardinals couldn't seem to shake off the rust of those eight days off, as Gustavus cruised to a 5-0 win in the opening game of their conference doubleheader, then held a precarious 1-0 advantage through five innings of Game 2.

Fortunately, the Cardinals' offense came to life just in time, as SMU scored once in the sixth and twice in the top of the seventh to salvage a split, 3-1.

The Gusties wasted little time getting on the board in both games, scoring twice in the first inning of Game 1, then tallying their lone run in the bottom of the first in Game 2.

GAC padded its 2-0 Game 1 lead, scoring twice in the fifth and once in the sixth. SMU, meanwhile, managed just six hits off Gustie pitcher Molly Biehn, who did not walk a batter and struck out three.

And for five innings, things didn't go much better for the Cardinals in the nightcap, as GAC pitcher Sara Medved held SMU to one hit — a lead-off single by Amy Lang (Oshkosh, Wis.) — through five innings.

SMU (9-3 MIAC, 14-8 overall) finally broke its scoreless string in the sixth, as Lang — who led off the inning with a double — scored on an RBI groundout by Jackie Huegel (Alta Vista, Iowa).

And once the Cardinals — and Lang — got going, there was no stopping them.

Lang picked up her second hit of the game in the seventh, delivering a clutch, two-out, two-run single, scoring Amy Langer (Savage, Minn.) and Jenny Schipp (North St. Paul, Minn.).