Box Score  | SMU-UST Recap | GameDay Preview

SHOREVIEW, Minn. — It took the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team four innings to get warmed up, but once they did, the Cardinals were unstoppable.

The Cardinals, who scored seven unanswered runs in the game's final three innings — and left the game-tying run on second base — in their 8-7 loss to top-seeded St. Thomas in the opening game of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Friday at Rice Creek Fields, picked up right where they left off in their second game of the day against Augsburg.

SMU erupted for five runs in the second inning and never looked back, as the Cardinals beat the Auggies 6-2 — eliminating Augsburg from tournament play and setting up a Saint Mary's-Gustavus showdown in an elimination game Saturday at 11 a.m.

Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn.) got the ball rolling for the Cardinals, as the sophomore — who went 2-for-4 with three RBIs against St. Thomas — delivered an RBI single in SMU's five-run second, while Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) launched a two-run home run and Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) chipped in an RBI single.

Augsburg answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third, but SMU got a run-scoring double by Carter in the fourth to regain a 6-2 advantage.

Carter fueled the Cardinals' 10-hit offensive attack, going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, while Thelen and Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) each added two hits. Kayla Peterson (Lewiston, Minn.), meanwhile, allowed two runs on eight hits en route to her career-high 15th win of the season.

The Cardinals improve to 18-20 overall with their win over Augsburg, while Gustavus — which opened tournament play with a 7-2 win over Augsburg, before suffering a 9-0, five-inning loss to St. Thomas in Friday's winner's bracket game — head into Saturday's matchup with Saint Mary's with a 29-9 record.