ST. PAUL, Minn. — It took the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team five innings to get their offense on track Wednesday afternoon against nationally ranked St. Thomas.
 
But with one swing of the bat—a Stanzy Snyder (Johnston, Iowa) two-run home run in the sixth inning—the Cardinals found themselves three outs away from knocking out the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's defending regular-season champs.
 
Unfortunately for Saint Mary's, all it took was one swing of the bat for the Tommies to snatch the victory from the Cardinals' grasp, as McKenzie Wergin laced a walk-off, two-run single to give St. Thomas a 3-2 victory in the opener of the teams' conference doubleheader at the St. Thomas Field.
 
The Cardinals came up with another late-inning run in the nightcap on a Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.) RBI single in the top of the seventh, but this time around, the Tommies had jumped out to a 7-0 advantage en route to the sweep-clinching 7-1 victory.
 
"We really struggled at the plate today," said Saint Mary's coach Jen Miller. "We just couldn't string any hits together, and we weren't able to get the big hit when we really needed it."
 
St. Thomas scored an unearned run in the fourth to break a scoreless deadlock and grab a 1-0 lead.
 
And with Kendra Bowe holding the Cardinals without a hit through the first five innings, it appeared like that one fourth-inning run would be more than enough.
 
The Cardinals, however, had other ideas.
 
Aldrich foiled Bowe's no-hitter with a lead-off single in the sixth, and, one out later, Snyder blasted her first collegiate home run to right field to put the Cardinals on top 2-1.
 
The Tommies, however, rained on the Cardinals' parade, getting a pair of one-out hits to put runners on second and third—and set up Wergin's walk-off heroics.
 
Along with Aldrich's single and Snyder's home run, Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.) accounted for Saint Mary's other hit against Bowe, while Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) suffered the pitching loss, allowing just three runs on six hits.
 
St. Thomas left little doubt in the nightcap, scoring once in the first, four times in the fifth and twice more in the sixth to build a 7-0 cushion.
 
Aldrich, Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.), Katie Krull (Rochester, Minn.), and Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) all had singles to account for the Cardinals' four Game 2 hits. Betzold suffered the loss in the pitcher's circle, surrendering four runs in seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. Katie Homan (North Mankato, Minn.) gave up three runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings of relief.
 
The Cardinals (4-4 MIAC, 10-10 overall) return home this weekend, hosting St. Olaf in a 3:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader on Friday, before entertaining Augsburg at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Saint Mary's Field.