WINONA, Minn. — New day, new opponent, same outcome.
 
The Saint Mary's fastpitch softball team had so much fun sweeping past UW-River Falls on Thursday that the Cardinals decided to do it again on Friday — without the late-inning drama, that is.
 
After scoring five runs in both wins over UW-River Falls Thursday — beating the Falcons 5-4 in eight inning and 5-3 — the Cardinals put up eight runs in back-to-back victories over St. Scholastica Friday at the Saint Mary's Field, putting up a pair of 8-0, five-inning victories.
 
GAME 1: OFF AND RUNNING
Saint Mary's set the offensive tone from the get-go, scoring once in the top of the first inning. Riley Hall (Dallas Station, Iowa) led off the frame with a double, was sacrificed to third, and scored on a wild pitch.
 
The Cardinals padded their lead to 4-0 with a pair of runs in the third — the first coming on a Saints' throwing error and the second on a sacrifice fly by Peyton Berg (Chatfield, Minn.) — before icing the Game 1 victory with a four-run fifth, highlighted by RBI singles from Cassie Sutor (Chicago, Ill.) and Hall.
 
Hall, Sutor and Heather Nordlund (Byron, Minn.) all collected two hits to ignite SMU's 10-hit offensive attack, while Sarah Kraus (Onalaska, Wis.) tossed a complete-game, four-hitter in the circle for her third win of the season.
 
GAME 2: A REPEAT PERFORMANCE
Saint Mary's came out swinging to kick off the nightcap, getting back-to-back singles by Hall and Ali French, with both eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly by Naleya Bork (De Pere, Wis.) and an RBI groundout by Nordlund for a quick 2-0 lead.
 
Sutor blasted SMU's second triple of the season, a laser down the right-field line to score Abbie Stigler (Menomonie, Wis.) and Mackenzie Carey (Prescott, Wis.) added a run-scoring groundout, as the Cardinals collected their second straight two-run inning in the second to push their lead to 4-0.
 
The Cardinals posted their third two-run inning of the game in the fourth, with Carey coming up with a two-out, two-run single to push their lead to 6-0, and sealed their second straight five-inning victory with yet another two-run inning in the fifth — scoring once on a Berg double and the game-ending run coming on a Saints' throwing error.
 
Berg and Stigler fueled SMU's offense, each collecting two hits, while Stigler also scored twice. Kraus was back in the pitcher's circle, recording her second straight complete-game shutout victory, limiting St. Scholastica to just four hits.
 
The Cardinals (5-5 MIAC, 13-13 overall) are back in action on Sunday, when they travel to the Augsburg Dome in Minneapolis, Minn., for a pair of conference games against Macalester. First pitch in Game 1 is slated for noon.
 
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