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TUCSON, Ariz. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team battled a little bout of first-game jitters Tuesday morning.

But once the Cardinals got a couple innings under their belt — they were unstoppable.

SMU opened the day with a 7-4 victory over Iowa Wesleyan College, and followed that up with a 3-2 win over DeSales University.

“We struggled out of the gate and started to panic a little bit,” SMU coach Jen Miller said. “But we regained our composure and settled down.”

Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) led the Cardinals against Iowa Wesleyan, going 2-for-4 with a home run. Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) was also 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, while Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.) and Nat Boissiere (Plymouth, Minn.) each added two hits. Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn.) and Mel Hamilton (Homewood, Ill.) added one hit each for SMU.

Kayla Peterson (Lewiston, Minn.) got the win on the mound, tossing a complete game with seven strikeouts and two walks.

In the nightcap, Carter picked up the pitching win, relieving Peterson in the middle of the second innings. Carter allowed four hits, struck out three and walked one.

SMU jumped out early against DeSales, scoring two runs in the opening inning when Ohl, Carter, Boissiere and Anna Ramboldt (Goodhue, Minn.) strung together four straight hits.

DeSales answered with two runs of its own in the second inning, before the Cardinals plated the game-winning run in the sixth when Hamilton hit a double and Micaela Meredith (Bloomington, Minn.) delivered a two-out double of her own to plate Hamilton.

Boissiere, Ohl and Ramboldt all finished 2-for-3 to pace the Cardinals' offensive attack.

“We were thrilled to get two big wins on a day where we didn't play out best softball,” Miller said. “We are excited to get back out there again tomorrow.”

SMU (2-0 overall) returns to action Wednesday with nonconference rematches against Iowa Wesleyan and DeSales.