WINONA, Minn. — No matter who you're playing, anytime you give up a couple of runs in the first inning, it makes the job of winning that much tougher.

Add to that the fact that your team is playing defending conference champion St. Thomas, and finding yourself staring at a 4-0 and 3-0 hole following the first half of an inning, and the hole gets that much deeper.

And that's exactly where the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team found itself after the Tommies' first at-bat in each of Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games – at the bottom of a deep, deep hole.

No, make that cavern.

The Cardinals gave up four runs in each of the first two innings, and two more in the fourth, as the St. Thomas raced to a 10-6 win in Game 1. The Tommies scored three times in the first and once more in the second and never looked back in completing the sweep with a 6-1 win in the nightcap.

"We did the same thing in the first inning against Gustavus (in a 5-0 loss last Tuesday)," said Fennern of giving up first-inning runs. "(St. Thomas) jumped on us right away today and before we knew it, we were staring at a 4-0 deficit (in the first game) and a 3-0 deficit (in the second).

"It doesn't matter who you're playing, you can't dig yourself that big a hole and expect to dig out of it."

SMU almost did dig out of that first-game hole, scoring three times in the bottom of the first — two runs coming on Amy Edge's (Mineral Point, Wis.) double — to pull within one, 4-3.

But, just as the Cardinals grasped for that last rung of the ladder to pull themselves out, St. Thomas knocked them right back where they came from, scoring four more runs in the second to take an 8-3 advantage.

"I was proud of the way we bounced right back in that first game," said Fennern, whose team returns to action this afternoon, playing host to Concordia. "But against a team like St. Thomas, it's tough to give up eight runs in the first two innings and expect to win.

"Once we settled in, we played much more like the way we are capable."

Unfortunately, by that time, the Tommies were well on their way to their 27th win of the season.

The Cardinals did cut the lead to 10-5 with a pair of unearned runs in the fifth and another run in the seventh on Gina Rizzardi's (Woodbury, Minn.) RBI single, but it was too little, too late.

"There was a lot of excitement, and certainly a lot of nervousness out there today," admitted Fennern, noting that not only were the Cardinals playing rival St. Thomas, but it was also Senior and Parent's Day thrown into the mix. "I think we were a little tight at the start, and against a team like St. Thomas, you can't afford to play like that."

The free-swinging Tommies were back at it in the top of the first of the second game, tagging SMU starter Hanni Lohmann (Lake Elmo, Minn.) for three runs on four hits. UST got another run in the second on an RBI double by Nikki Conway, then made it 5-0 on Gina Utecht's second home run of the day — a solo shot in the top of the sixth.

Stacy Tamble set the Cardinals down in order through the first four innings, before losing her perfect game and no-hitter on Jackie Huegel's (Alta Vista, Iowa) single in the fifth. SMU collected two more hits — and its lone run — in the sixth as Niki Lynch (Winona, Minn.) and Amy Langer (Savage, Minn.) laced back-to-back singles.

"We didn't play that poorly," said Fennern. "Take away that first inning, and (the second game) is a 2-1 ball game. Take away two swings (Utecht's three-run HR in the first inning and Kristi Huegel's two-run shot in the fourth), and we win the first game 6-5.

"That's how close those games really were — it was a battle between two good teams."