Game 1 Boxscore / Game 2 Boxscore

ST. PAUL, Minn. — After scoring just five runs in their first three Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games, the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team's offense finally came to life Saturday.

And not a moment too soon.

After managing just a first-inning run in falling to St. Catherine 5-1 in Saturday's opener — marking the third straight MIAC loss to open the season for SMU — the Cardinals erupted for 12 hits and 10 runs in routing the Wildcats 10-0 in the nightcap to earn the split.

We did not play well at all in the first game, but it was nice to see us come back in the second game," said SMU coach Nikki Fennern. "In the first game, we weren't able to string any hits together, where as, in the second game, we seemed to string plenty of hits together.

"(Despite the Game 1 loss), we came out with a bit of an attitude in that second game, which was good to see," continued Fennern. "We didn't hang our heads and feel sorry for ourselves (after the first game), we put that game behind us and focused on getting the job done in the second game."

And what a job the Cardinals did.

Jenni Gutterman (Shoreview, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, going 3-for-4 with a pair of triples, three RBIs and three runs in scored as SMU scored once in the first, then put the game out of reach with two runs in the third, three in the fourth and four in the sixth.

Amy Lang (Oshkosh, Wis.) chipped in a pair of hits in four at-bats, while driving in three runs and scoring twice, while Hanni Lohmann (Lake Elmo, Minn.) was 2-for-3 with a run scored.

And while the SMU bats were feasting on the pitching of St. Catherine's Ashley Decker and Anne Mellis, Cardinal hurler Jenny Schipp (North St. Paul, Minn.) was doing her part shutting down the Wildcats' offense. Schipp held St. Catherine to three hits — all singles — through five innings. Amanda Daigle (Rice Lake, Wis.) pitched a perfect sixth to help SMU snap its three-game losing streak.

"Coming back like we did was so important," said Fennern, whose team got another 3-for-4 effort from Gutterman, and outhit the Wildcats 8-7 — but managed just a first-inning run — in dropping the opener. "Hopefully we can take the positives from the second game into (Sunday's) doubleheader against Concordia and through the rest of the season."