Game 1 Boxscore / Game 2 Boxscore

ST. PAUL, Minn. — When the week started, Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball coach Nikki Fennern knew that her Cardinals faced an uphill climb in their quest to dethrone St. Thomas as the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's top dog.

After all, not only were the Cardinals facing a daunting schedule that included back-to-back-to-back doubleheaders — leading off with two games against then-unbeaten Gustavus — but they also knew that the end of the week held the real prize, a home showdown with the Tommies.

SMU managed a split with Gustavus last Tuesday, then added two impressive wins over Bethel on Wednesday, leaving them with a 11-3 conference mark heading into Thursday's twinbill against St. Catherine.

Two wins against the Wildcats, and SMU could dethrone the mighty Tommies with a sweep on Saturday — and a little outside help.

The Cardinals got that little bit of help when Gustauvs swept its MIAC doubleheader with St. Thomas Thursday, winning 4-3 in 10 innings and 1-0 in a game halted after the sixth due to darkness.

Unfortunately for SMU, someone forgot to tell St. Catherine about the Cardinals' master plan, as the Wildcats got a lead-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat SMU 2-1 in the opening game of their MIAC doubleheader.

The Cardinals were in complete control in the nightcap, winning 10-1 in five innings, but the split leaves SMU four games back with six conference games left.

Now, if the Cardinals are going to return to the conference's catbird seat, a sweep of UST on Saturday is a must — but that little bit of help has turned into a lot of outside help.

St. Catherine got on the board first in the opener on a solo home run in the fourth inning. The Cardinals tied the game in the top of the seventh on back-to-back doubles by Amy Lang (Oshkosh, Wis.) and Jennifer Gonerka (St. Paul, Minn.), only to have the Wildcats end it with their second solo home run of the game to lead off the eighth.

SMU left little doubt in Game 2, scoring five runs in the first inning — two on a double by Amy Langer (Savage, Minn.), one on a single by Krista Conway (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and two on CSC errors.

The Cardinals added two more in the second and three in the fourth — when St. Catherine committed three more errors.