Game 1 Box Score / Game 2 Box Score

DUNDAS, Minn. — Mother Nature had her fun — at Saint Mary's University baseball coach Nick Whaley's expense this week, blanketing the state in a layer of April snow, forcing the Cardinals' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Augsburg to be postponed Tuesday … and Wednesday … and Thursday.

To make matters worse, not only did Whaley and the Cardinals spend more time on Weather.com than they did on the baseball field, but the cancellations also gave them way too much time to stew about the last time they actually played — 21-1 and 7-1 losses to St. Olaf last Monday.

On Friday, with the sun shining and the temperature a "balmy" 45 degrees. SMU finally got to play its games against Augsburg. And the end results were more painful than the daily cancellations — or the 21 runs they surrendered to the Oles in that Game 1 loss last Monday.

"It was a real heartbreaking day — even more painful than the St. Olaf game," said SMU coach Nick Whaley, whose team gave up seventh-inning leads in both games in falling to the Auggies, 4-3 in eight innings in the opener and 3-2 in the nightcap. "The most disappointing part is, I thought we played very well. We got great pitching, we made several outstanding plays in the field, and, offensively, we were OK.

"Augsburg came up with some big hits and we weren't able to answer," Whaley added. "These were two games that we played well enough to win — and that hurts."

After spotting the Auggies a 1-0, first-inning lead, the Cardinals rallied with two runs in the fourth and another in the fifth to take a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. The Auggies, however, responded with a single run in the seventh and another in the eighth to earn the victory.

And, as if blowing one seventh-inning lead isn't bad enough, the Cardinals were the victim of a repeat performance in Game 2, as the Auggies erased a 2-1 SMU lead with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to complete the sweep — and hand the Cardinals their sixth straight setback.

"It's frustrating and it hurts, but we can't afford to dwell on it too long," said Whaley, noting that the Cardinals return to action Saturday, playing host to St. Thomas in an MIAC doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. "We've got to find a way to put these losses behind us — we can't afford to be at anything less than our best (against St. Thomas)."