Game 1 Box / Game 2 Box / GameDay Online

ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team faced a daunting task Sunday afternoon, as the Cardinals traveled to Gustavus for a Minnesota Intercollegiate athletic Conference doubleheader against the Gusties.

How daunting?

The Gusties came into the Sunday twinbill riding a season-high 16-game winning streak — not to mention having outscored its opponents 121-11 during that 16-game span and having shut out each of its first seven conference foes at least once.

Unfazed by the league-leading Gusties' impressive pedigree — that also included a perfect 14-0 run through its first seven conference opponents — the Cardinals gave GAC all it could handle Sunday afternoon.

Unfortunately, when the final outs were recorded, the Cardinals suffered the same fate as the Gusties' other seven MIAC opponents — two losses, including one by shutout.

SMU rallied from a 4-0 deficit with three runs in the top of the seventh — and the tying run on third with two outs — but came up that one run short, falling 4-3 in the opener. The Gusties then rode the pitching arm of Erin Truebenbach in Game 2, as Truebenbach limited SMU to one hit in lifting GAC to a sweep-clinching, 4-0 victory.

“Gustavus is a very good team,” understated SMU coach Jen Miller, whose team fell to 8-10 in the MIAC and 16-14 overall. “I thought we played pretty well — we had our chance (in the seventh inning of Game 1), we just weren't able to get the clutch hit when we needed it.

“And when you are playing a team like Gustavus, you have to make the most of the opportunities you get.”

The Gusties raced out to a 4-0 lead with back-to-back two-run innings in the second and third frames, and held that four-run advantage into the seventh. In their final at-bat, the Cardinals' bats finally came to life, getting RBI singles by Joanna Mangan (Chicago, Ill.) and Cassie Otte (Randolph, Minn.), while Mangan scored on an RBI groundout by Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.). With Otte on third and two outs, however, GAC pitcher Betsie Collins got Katy Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) to end the threat — and the game.

There were no late-game heroics for SMU in the nightcap, as Truebenbach took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, where Danielle Geske (Rosemount, Minn.) delivered a one-out single to left to account for SMU's lone hit.

“(Truebenbach) pitched a great game, we just weren't able to get anything going offensively against her,” said Miller, whose team is back in conference action on Wednesday, playing host to Macalester in a 4 p.m. contest at the SMU Field. “We knew coming in that we were going to have to be at our best if we were going to be able to beat (Gustavus). I thought we were good, but just not good enough.”