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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team proved once again that they could swing a big bat, as Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) belted a two-run home run — the Cardinals' sixth of the season — during the opening game of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against St. Thomas Wednesday at the SMU Gym.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Tommies also proved their could swing a pretty heft bat, as the Tommies belted five home runs on the afternoon — three solo shots to account for all three runs in a 3-2 Game 1 win, and two more round-trippers in the Tommies' 9-3 victory in the nightcap.

"Our pitching wasn't the best today," said SMU coach Jen Miller. "We didn't hit our spots like we needed to against a good-hitting team like St. Thomas. And offensively, you aren't going to win too many games when you manage just five hits like we did in the first game."

The Tommies scored a single run in the second game of Game 1, as Megan Sitek belted a Mallory Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) offering over the left-center field fence.

Kayla Boward made it 2-0 with the first of her two home runs in the top of the fifth, before Stenseth knotted things up with her second HR of the season — a two-run shot to left.

Boward then iced the win for the Tommies, taking Betzold deep for the second time, again to left-center, to lead off the seventh. UST pitcher Biz Sitzmann then got the Cardinals to go down in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in Game 2, getting a two-run single to center by Betzold in the bottom of the first. UST answered with two runs in the top of the second, then scored three more in the third — including their fourth solo home run of the afternoon off the bat of Jenna Hoffman.

St. Thomas pushed that advantage to 9-2 with back-to-back two-run innings in the fourth and sixth innings, before SMU closed out the scoring with a single run in the seventh on an RBI single by Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.).

"You have to do three things to be successful — pitching, hitting and defense," Miller said. "And we didn't do any of them well today."

The Cardinals (0-2 MIAC, 7-5 overall) are back in action on Saturday, hosting Saint Benedict in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader at the SMU Field.