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WINONA, Minn. — Talk about stepping out of the frying pan and into the fire — less than 24 hours after squaring off against 22nd-ranked St. Thomas in a pair of MIAC games, the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team entertained fourth-ranked Luther Thursday afternoon at the SMU Field.

And for the second day in a row, the Cardinals gave their nationally ranked foe all their could handle in the opener — only to come up just short — as Luther rallied from a 4-2, fifth-inning deficit to beat the Cardinals 8-7.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Game 2 was eerily similar as well, as the Norse held SMU to just three hits in completing the sweep with a 16-5 victory.

“It was like reliving (St. Thomas) all over again,” said SMU coach Jen Miller, whose team led St. Thomas on three different occasions before falling 8-5 in the opener, then was no-hit in an 8-0, five-inning setback in Game 2. “We had our chances in the first game, we just couldn't shut down (Luther's) bats.

“And in the second game, we just didn't have enough firepower.”

Luther wasted little time getting a lead in Game 1, scoring twice off SMU starter Kayla Peterson (Lewiston, Minn.) in the first inning. The Cardinals got one back in the bottom of the fourth on Alex Raske's (Chicago, Ill.) second home run of the season — a one-out shot to left.

Raske then capped SMU's three-run fifth, delivering a clutch, two-out, two-run double to give the Cardinals a 4-2 advantage.

Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived, as Luther scored five runs in the top of the sixth — all with two outs — as Kelsey Weindruch delivered a two-run single and Lauran Snyder laced a three-run home run.

The Cardinals made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three times — once on a Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) RBI single and twice on Anna Ramboldt's (Goodhue, Minn.) two-run double — but Luther pitcher Becca Girvan induced Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) to ground out to short to end the threat.

Raske finished the opener 4-for-4 with three RBIs to pace SMU's 10-hit attack, while Carter was 2-for-4 and Ramboldt drove in a pair of runs.

Luther erupted for five first-inning runs in the nightcap, and then added four more in the fourth to push the lead to 9-0. SMU answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut the gap to 9-2, but the Norse were just getting warmed up, scoring twice in the sixth and five times in the seventh en route to the sweep-clinching win.

Luther pitcher Kelsey Rose held the Cardinals hitless over the first three innings, before SMU scratched out two runs on one hit in the fourth.

Carter, Ramboldt and Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.) each had a single to account for SMU's three hits off Rose, with Ramboldt driving in two of the team's five runs.

The Cardinals (12-10 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play this weekend, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a 1 p.m. doubleheader against Carleton, before heading to St. Joseph, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC twinbill at Saint Benedict on Sunday.