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WINONA, Minn. — After going extra innings in both game of its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep at Augsburg on Wednesday, the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team decided to take a different approach to its time management Sunday afternoon against Concordia — get the job done, and get the job done early.

The Cardinals sent 16 batters to the plate in their first at-bat, scoring 10 times in cruising to a 14-1, five-inning victory in the opener at the SMU Field.

Unfortunately, SMU wasn't nearly as efficient in Game 2 — offensively or defensively — as the Cardinals surrendered three unearned runs in the first inning and could not manufacture enough runs with their 11 hits, as the Cobbers earned a split with a 5-4 victory.

SMU batted around the order without making an out in its first plate appearance of the afternoon, as the Cardinals banged out eight first-inning hits, scoring 10 times to put the game out of reach before it had even gotten started.

The Cardinals would add four more runs in the second, while the Cobbers foiled SMU's shutout bid with a single run in the top of the fourth.

Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) and Kellie Simons (Richfield, Minn.) led the Cardinals' 14-hit offensive attack, as each went 3-for-3, while Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.) was 2-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored, and Katy Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) belted her team-leading sixth home run of the season — a two-run shot in the second.

Mallory Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) and Kayla Peterson (Lewiston, Minn.) combined on a six-hitter. Betzold earned her team-leading 11th win of the season, as the senior left-hander scattered three hits and struck out seven in three innings of work, while Peterson gave up one run on three hits and struck out one over the game's final two innings.

Concordia took advantage of two first-inning Cardinal errors to plate three runs, and SMU never recovered. The Cardinals got one run back in their first at-bat, as Gannon delivered a run-scoring ground out, but CC pushed its lead to 5-1 with solo home runs in the third and fifth innings.

SMU cut the gap to 5-3 with two runs in the bottom of the fifth — including a Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) RBI single — then made it a one-run game when Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) scored on a Betzold ground out.

That, however, would be as close as Cobber pitcher Kesley Jones worked out of a first-and-second, two-out jam by inducing Stenseth to line out to center field for the game's final out.

Stenseth, Carter and Olson all delivered two hits for the Cardinals in Game 2, while Olson, Betzold and Gannon each drove in a run.

The Cardinals, who fall to 8-6 in the MIAC and 15-11 overall, are back in action on Tuesday, traveling to St. Peter, Minn., for a key conference doubleheader against Gustavus. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.