MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The fourth and fifth innings proved to be very kind to the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team.
 
The Cardinals scored 16 runs in their two nonconference games against Augsburg Sunday afternoon — 14 of which came in the fourth and fifth innings combined.
 
It took Saint Mary's three innings to get their bats warmed up in the opener, but once they did, they were unstoppable.
 
After coming up empty in the first three at-bats of their nonconference doubleheader against the Auggies, the Cardinals erupted for 10 runs over the final four innings — including a two-run fourth and seven-run fifth — en route to a 10-5 Game 1 victory.
 
And it was more mid-inning magic in the nightcap – as Hallie Schmeling (Onalaska, Wis.) delivered a two-out, three-run triple in the fourth and SMU plated two more in the fifth, propelling the Cardinals to a 6-0 win and sweep of the Auggies at Edor Nelson Field.
 
Augsburg got on the board first in the opener, scoring a solo run in the bottom of the first inning — and maintained that one-run advantage until the fourth.
 
Amber Chow (West St. Paul, Minn.) opened the Cardinals' fourth with a walk and gave way to pinch-runner Jordan Meyers (Chicago, Ill.). Meyers moved to second on Cassie Sutor's ground out to right, and scored on Mackenzie Carey's (Prescott, Wis.) RBI double to right to knot the game at 1-1. Haley Williams (Littleton, Colo.) followed with a run-scoring double of her own to give Saint Mary's its first lead of the game, 2-1.
 
And once the Cardinal offense shifted out of neutral, they were nearly impossible to stop, sending 13 batters to the plate in a seven-run fifth inning to take a commanding 9-1 advantage.
 
Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn.) led off the SMU fourth with a single, stole second, and moved to third on a wild pitch. Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn.) walked and stole second, and Amy Kulaga (Riverside, Ill.) followed by lacing an RBI single to score the Cardinals' first run of the inning. Lexi Brooks (Searcy, Ark.) walked and Chow laced a two-run single up the middle.
 
A two-out fielding error by Augsburg allowed Chow to score Saint Mary's fourth run of the inning, and Hallie Schmeling (Onalaska, Wis.) drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 7-1. In her second at-bat of the inning, Schultz delivered a see-eye RBI single to plate SMU's sixth run of the inning and an Augsburg wild pitch scored Schmeling to give Saint Mary's a commanding 9-1 cushion. Augsburg chipped away at the Cardinal lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the sixth, but Saint Mary's added an insurance run in the top of the seventh, and Chow worked a scoreless bottom of the seventh in relief to seal the win.
 
Carey was perfect from the plate in the opener, going 4-for-4 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored, while Gudmundson and Chow each chipped in two hits.
 
Saint Mary's made the most of its mid-inning at-bats in the nightcap, as well. Back-to-back walks to Brooks and Chow to open the fourth put Cardinals on first and second to open the fourth, and a one-out walk to Carey loaded the bases — and Schmeling promptly cleared the bases with a two-out three-run triple to right-center to give Saint Mary's a 3-0 lead.
 
The Cardinals plated two more runs in the fifth, as Chow launched a two-run double, scoring both Meyers and Brooks — who had singled and doubled, respectively — to make it 5-0. A Schultz sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth made it a six-run cushion,
 
Schmeling and Meyers were the Cardinal offensive leaders in the nightcap, each collecting two hits, while Brooks, Chow, and Gudmundson had SMU's other three hits. Chow was untouchable in the pitcher's circle, tossing a complete-game four-hitter — including setting down 13 straight Auggies before surrendering a seventh-inning bloop single. The senior righthanded walked just one and struck out five.
 
The Cardinals (3-5 overall) kick off the home portion of their schedule with six games in the next six days, hosting UW-River Falls (Wednesday), UW-Platteville (Friday), and UW-La Crosse (Saturday) in three 2 p.m. nonconference doubleheaders.