Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  | GameDay Preview

VADNAIS HEIGHTS, Minn. — If Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball coach Jen Miller has learned anything about her team over the last week, it's that the Cardinals are right at home in a dome.

For the second time in the last four days, Mother Nature forced SMU to play its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader inside on Wednesday — and the Cardinals responded with their second straight conference sweep.

After cruising to 7-5 and 11-4 wins over Saint Benedict in the Rochester (Minn.) Dome on Sunday, the Cardinals were back inside Thursday, this time in the Vadnais Heights (Minn.) Dome, where they picked up another two MIAC wins, beating Concordia 9-4 and 8-6.

The Cardinals didn't waste any time flexing their muscles in the opener against the Cobbers, scoring three runs in the first and three more in the third, before pushing that advantage to 9-0 with a single run in the fourth and two more in the top of the fifth.

Concordia scored all four of its runs — only one of which was earned — in the fifth, but that would be all SMU starter Kayla Peterson (Lewiston, Minn.) would allow, as the senior right-hander finished with a complete-game six-hitter with four strikeouts in notching her ninth win of the season.

Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.) and Nat Boissiere (Plymouth, Minn.) ignited the Cardinals' 14-hit Game 1 attack, as Ohl — who picked up her first two collegiate home runs in SMU's sweep of Saint Benedict last Sunday — went 4-for-5, while Boissiere was 2-for-4 with a three-run, first-inning home run. Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn.), Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) and Anna Ramboldt (Goodhue, Minn.) each chipped in two hits.

The Cardinals took a bit of a different approach in the second game, waiting until the fourth inning to break a scoreless tie with a pair of runs. SMU would add four more runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to grab an 8-0 advantage.

Concordia got to SMU starter Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) in the sixth, scoring four times, before adding two more runs in the seventh. The rally, however, came to a screeching halt when Joelle Link tried to score from first on Becca Conant's two-out, bases-loaded double and was gunned down at the plate for the game's final out.

Raske continued to swing a hot bat, as the sophomore following up her two-hit Game 1 performance with two more hits in the nightcap — including her team-leading fifth home run — while also driving in three runs. Carter added a 3-for-4, 3-RBI effort, while Ohl, Ramboldt and Micaela Meredith (Bloomington, Minn.) all added two hits.

Carter improved to 6-1 in the pitcher's circle, allowing four runs on six hits, while striking out four.

With the wins, the Cardinals maintained their strangle-hold on second place in the conference standings with an 8-2 record, while also improving to 15-6 overall. SMU — which had its Thursday MIAC doubleheader against Macalester at the SMU Field postponed and rescheduled for Sunday, April 28 — is back in action on Saturday, traveling to St. Catherine for a conference doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.