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ST. PAUL, Minn. — The last time St. Thomas lost a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference fastpitch softball game was April 13, 2010, when Saint Mary's University handed the Tommies a 3-0, Game 1 setback.

That was 50 games ago.

Wednesday afternoon, the Cardinals had the Tommies right where they wanted them and were posed to put an end to that 50-game win streak — boasting leads of 2-0, 4-3 and 5-4 in the opener of their conference twinbill at the UST Field.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Tommies scored 12 unanswered runs — four in the first game and eight in the second — as UST rallied to beat Saint Mary's 8-5 in the first game, then rode the perfect-game pitching of Kristen Bigelbach in an 8-0 five-inning win in the second.

In the opener, Anna Ramboldt (Goodhue, Minn.) got SMU off to a rousing start, delivering a two-run double to put the Cardinals out front 2-0 in the first inning. St. Thomas answered with a single run in the bottom of the first and two more in the second. SMU regained its lead, 4-3, on a Ramboldt RBI groundout and a run-scoring single by Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) in the third.

St. Thomas pulled even, 4-4, on a Tisa Phinney home run in the fourth, but again the Cardinals answered on an Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) RBI single in the fifth to put SMU up 5-4.

That, however, would be all the offense the Cardinals would muster, as St. Thomas scored twice in the fifth and twice more in the sixth to seal the win.

Olson paced the Cardinals' 11-hit attack, going 3-for-4, while Stenseth and Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) each chipped in two hits and Ramboldt finished with 3 RBIs.

As good as the Cardinals' offense was in the opener, it was no match for Bigelbach in the nightcap, as the sophomore right-hander hurled a five-inning perfect game — recording nine groundouts and six fly outs.

And while Bigelbach was mowing down the Cardinals, one swing of the bat by Phinney was all the UST offense would need, as Phinney belted a third-inning grand slam to highlight the Tommies' five-run third. St. Thomas added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to seal the win and complete the sweep.

The Cardinals (6-4 MIAC, 12-8 overall), who had their four-game winning streak snapped with the opening-game loss, are right back in action on Thursday, hosting fifth-ranked Luther in a 3 p.m. nonconference doubleheader at the SMU Field.