WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball coach Jen Miller must have had a sense of déjà vu during the Cardinals first game of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Gustavus.
 
And that wasn't a good thing.
 
The last time the Cardinals played, St. Olaf scored all three of its runs in the third inning in dealing Saint Mary's a 3-0 setback.
 
Thursday afternoon, it was another three-run inning that proved to be the Game 1 difference—this time in the fifth—as Gustavus handed the Cardinals a 4-1 loss at the Saint Mary's Field.
 
The Gusties picked up right where they left off in the nightcap, scoring in each of the first three innings in completing the sweep with a 5-0 Game 2 win.
 
Ashley Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) and Hannah Heacox were locked in a pitchers' duel through four innings of the opener—with Betzold allowing just two Gustavus hits, with Heacox matching that effort.
 
Then came the fifth.
 
Gustavus parlayed three hits, a Cardinal error and a passed ball into three runs to grab a commanding 3-0 advantage.
 
The Cardinals cut the deficit to 3-1 in the sixth, when Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) scored on a passed ball—and Saint Mary's threatened in the seventh, loading the bases with two outs, but came up empty.
 
Birkhauser, Betzold, Kathi Opsahl (Elk River, Minn.), and Haley Vanourney (Marion, Iowa) accounted for the Cardinals' four hits off Heacox.
 
Gustavus came out swinging in the second game, scoring once in the first inning and twice in both the second and third innings to grab a 5-0 lead.
 
Unfortunately, for the second game in a row, the Cardinals could manage just four hits—two by Opsahl, and one each from Vanourney and Alexa Diteman (Burnsville, Minn.)—in suffering the shutout loss.
 
 The Cardinals (1-10 MIAC, 7-20 overall) are right back in action on Friday, heading to St. Paul, Minn., for a 4:30 p.m. conference doubleheader against Macalester.