Game 1 Box / Game 2 Box / GameDay Online

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — If Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball coach Jen Miller was concerned about any lingering effects from last Saturday's heartbreaking 3-2 Game 2 loss to Saint Benedict, the Cardinals quickly put her fears to rest Tuesday afternoon.

The Cardinals erupted for five runs in the top of the third inning and never let up, racing to an 11-1, five-inning Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory in Game 1 against St. Olaf, then followed that up with an 8-2 triumph in the nightcap.

“We swung the bats a lot better today than we did against Saint Ben's,” said SMU coach Jen Miller, whose team improved to 5-1 in the MIAC and 13-5 overall with the back-to-back wins. “I was a little worried about how we would come out today, after that loss (on Saturday). But everyone came out focused and ready to go — it was a good sweep.”

SMU, which had the game-tying run gunned down at the plate in losing its first conference game of the season against Saint Benedict on Saturday, took out those late-game frustrations on the Oles, jumping on St. Olaf pitcher Katie Truax for five runs in the third inning — highlighted by back-to-back home runs by Katy Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) and Danielle Geske (Rosemount, Minn.).

And once the Cardinals began to heat up, there was no cooling them off, as SMU plated three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings en route to the five-inning victory.

SMU put together a near-repeat performance in the nightcap, scoring four times in the third — all four coming on Geske's second HR of the afternoon, a one-out grand slam — three times in the fourth and once in the fifth to complete the sweep.

Geske enjoyed a banner day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored in Game 1, before driving in four runs with one swing of the bat in the nightcap. Jess Sharpe (Ottawa, Ill.), Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) and Angie Diercks (Red Wing, Minn.) also collected three hits each, while Joanna Mangan (Chicago, Ill.) was 2-for-3 with three RBIs in the opener.

Cassie Otte (Randolph, Minn.) recorded her fourth three-hit game in the Cardinals' last five contests in Game 2, going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored to fuel SMU's 11-hit attack.

“Every conference win is important, and for us to go on the road and put together two solid performances like this, that's great,” said Miller, whose team is right back on the road on Wednesday, traveling to Bethel for a 4 p.m. conference doubleheader. “Hopefully we can just keep the momentum building.”