MANKATO, Minn. — It may have been a new day, but it was the same location — and the same Cardinal high-octane offense.
 
Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team, coming off a 16-run outburst in beating Northwestern (7-3) and UW-La Crosse (9-1) in their first two games of the season on Saturday, returned to the Mankato Dome on Sunday — with much the same results.
 
The Cardinals erupted for 22 runs — including 11 in the fourth inning — in cruising to a 22-1 win over North Central, before outlasting Nebraska Wesleyan 4-2 to complete a perfect 4-0 start to the 2024 season.
 
Saint Mary's left little doubt against the Rams in their first game of the day, scoring six runs in their first at-bat, and five more in their second, before erupting for 11 runs in the fourth inning to seal their third straight twin to open the season.
 
Breonna Methner (Woodbury, Minn.) and Megan McGinnis (Appleton, Wis.) led the way for SMU against North Central, each collecting three hits, with Makayla Steffes (Winona, Minn.), Gabrielle Grove, and Lizzie Pike (Rochester, Minn.) all chipping in a pair of hits. Pike made the most of her two at-bats, delivering an RBI single and a two-run triple in her two at-bats.
 
SMU's offensive continued to purr against Nebraska Wesleyan in its second game of the day, scoring a pair of runs in the fifth inning and one more in the sixth to complete a come-from-behind win over the Prairie Wolves.
 
Steffes collected a pair of hits, while French, Berg, Naleya Bork (DePere, Wis.), and Methner accounted for SMU's six hits against the Prairie Wolves. Steffes earned the complete-game pitching victory, scattering two runs on two hits, while walking three and striking out three in seven innings.l
 
Saint Mary's (4-0 overall) will return to the Mankato Dome in Mankato, Minn., next weekend, squaring off against Martin Luther and Coe on Saturday, before facing Bethany Lutheran and Luther on Sunday.
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