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WINONA, Minn. — The weather finally started to heat up Saturday as the Saint Mary's University baseball team opened its home season against St. Olaf Saturday afternoon at Max Molock Field.

It took the Cardinals' offense the first seven innings of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against the Oles, however, to reach those balmy temperatures.

After managing just one run in dropping the opener, 3-1, the Cardinals' bats came to life in the night — using a four-run third inning to erasing an early St. Olaf lead and lift SMU to a 5-2 victory and a split in the conference twinbill.

After giving up back-to-back runs in the first two innings of the opener, SMU cut the Oles' lead to 2-1 in the third, as Vince Lulic (Mendota Heights, Minn.) delivered a two-out, RBI double, scoring Chris Anderson (Madison, Wis.) with the Cardinals' first run.

Unfortunately, it would also be their last.

St. Olaf pitcher Anders Dzurak allowed just three base runners after the third inning, posting a complete-game six-hit, five-strikeout performance.

Kevin Miley (St. Paul, Minn.) collected two of SMU's six hits in Game 1, while Lulic, Kyle Servais (Westby, Wis.), Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) and Anderson accounted for the other four.

The Oles were right back to their early scoring ways in Game 2, as St. Olaf got to SMU starter Jacob Dawson (Oakdale, Minn.) for a pair of runs in the top of the first inning.

SMU answered with a single run in the bottom of the first on a Miley RBI single, before taking the lead for good with four runs in the third. Servais, Anderson and Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) all collected run-scoring singles in the Cardinals' four-run third, while Doll drove in the other run on a sacrifice fly.

And once the Cardinals got the lead, SMU's pitching staff made it stand up.

Dawson settled down after his rocky first inning, going 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs — both unearned — on five hits in posting his first collegiate pitching win. Sam Nord (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and A.J. Redders (Middleton, Wis.) limited STO to just one hit in a combined 1 1/3 innings, and Tyler Krysiak (Bloomington, Minn.) came on in the seventh to shut the door in posting his second save of the season.

Drew Denning (St. Paul, Minn.) went 2-for-3 with a run scored to fuel SMU's eight-hit attack in Game 2, while Lulic, Servais, Miley, Gannon, Anderson and Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) each had one hit.

The Cardinals (3-5 MIAC, 12-11 overall) are right back in action on Sunday, hosting Gustavus in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.