ST. PETER, Minn. — Mother Nature made for a late night Friday evening, and she wasn't in a very cooperative mood again on Saturday.
 
Evan Huemoeller (Owatonna, Minn.) and Josh Janssen (Green Bay, Wis.) closed out the opening day of the ITA Regional/Midwest Open in the wee hours of Saturday morning — thanks to heavy rain that forced the late doubles matches to be moved inside.
 
And once again, Mother Nature threw tournament a rain-making curveball — and the Cardinals were once again in side to close out Day 2 of the event.
 
Huemoeller and Janssen fell to Lucas Huffman/Jackson Eells of Wartburg in that late-night contest, 8-1, while in Saturday's action, the doubles teams of Brandon Raabolle (Andover, Minn.)/Peter Quinn (Lake Elmo, Minn.); Tucker Stene (Fridley, Minn.)/Tanner Tschumper (Foley, Minn.); and Matt Besek (Winona, Minn.)/Caden Rodring (Mason City, Iowa) took to the court.
 
Raabolle/Quinn dropped an 8-3 decision to Darin Ruppi/Joel Fremling of Northwestern), while Stene/Tschumper fell 8-2 to Bethel's Drew Holmes/Steven Benroy in outdoor matches, with Besek/Rodring being forced inside, where they came short in falling to Marcos Borobia/Carlos Franch of Bethany Lutheran, 8-2
 
Mother Nature's weekend shenanigans also put a damper on E.J. Hietala's (Duluth, Minn.) weekend run. The junior kicked off singles play at the Midwest Open with three straight victories, only to have the event called to a halt due to weather.
 
The Cardinals officially kick off the 2022 season on Jan. 28-29, when they welcome Northwestern and Martin Luther to the Winona Tennis Center.