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WINONA, Minn. — After spending most of March battling unseasonably cool temperatures, Mother Nature decided to heat things up a bit Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately for the Saint Mary's University baseball team, Mother Nature had no control over the St. Olaf pitching staff, as a trio of Ole hurlers kept the Cardinals' bats in a deep freeze in lifting STO to a 7-0, 10-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep of SMU at Max Molock Field.

“St. Olaf is a good team — they are very good,” said SMU coach Nick Winecke. “We didn't hit very well — you are going to win many doubleheaders getting nine hits on the afternoon — but I was also happy with the way we battled all day.

“The guys kept fighting and never gave up,” Winecke added. “You have to tip you cap to St. Olaf, they played a great couple of games and really took it to us.”

St. Olaf's Ben Hughes was virtually untouchable in running his record to 3-0, as the Ole junior allowed just three hits — a Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.) single in the fourth, and a double by Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) and a single by Luke Larson (Bloomington, Minn.) in the seventh — while striking out 13 and walking just one.

Hughes got all the offensive support he would need in the second, as the Oles scored three times off SMU starter Gary Seifert (Prescott, Wis.). St. Olaf would add another run in the third and post its second three-run inning in the fourth to seal the win.

“(Hughes) is by far one of the best pitchers in the conference,” Winecke said. “He was throwing 91, 92 (mph) all day — he was tough.”

The Oles plated a single run in the first inning of the nightcap, before erupting for five runs in the fourth and back-to-back two-run innings in the fifth and sixth. SMU, meanwhile, finally broke the ice in the seventh, as Larson delivered a bases-loaded single to plate Andrew Warren (Stillwater, Minn.).

Schlemmer finished with two hits in Game 2, while Chris Bogie (St. Paul, Minn.), Larson, Daniel Geraghty (Chicago, Ill.) and Mike Feriancek (River Falls, Wis.) accounted for SMU's other four hits.

“That second game is one of those that we let get away from us,” said Winecke. “It was a one-run game through four innings, then a walk, an error, and boom, it's a 5-0 game. We beat ourselves a bit in that second game.”

The Cardinals (0-2 MIAC, 4-12 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a 2:30 MIAC doubleheader against Carleton.