WINONA, Minn. — Officially, it took the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team eight innings — and just over an hour-and-a-half — to earn their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference split with Gustavus last Thursday.

Unofficially, it took the Cardinals 12 innings — and more than 17 hours — to post their 2-1 Game 2 win.

After dropping the opening game 4-2 on an Ingrid Olson two-run home run in the top of the 10th inning last Wednesday, the Cardinals went toe-to-toe with the Gusties for four innings, only to have darkness force the suspension of the second game, which was tied 4-4 at the time.

Because the game didn't reach five complete innings, the two teams were required to scrap those four innings and start from scratch when play resumed Thursday afternoon.

And for the second straight game, things could not be resolved in seven innings.

This time, however, the Cardinals weren't about to let it get too far, as Jenni Gutterman (Shoreview, Minn.) belted a 3-2 offering from Gustavus pitcher Sara Medved over the left-field fence for a game-winning, walk-off home run.

"It's kind of fitting that the game ended that way," said SMU coach Nikki Fennern. "(Gustavus) beat us with a home run (in the opener) and we turned around and beat them with one in the second.

"That's a huge split for us," continued Fennern, whose team moved to 4-4 in the MIAC and 11-9 overall with the win. "This whole (doubleheader) has been a strange situation, with the suspension and all, but I thought our players handled it well. They came back to the field (Thursday) focused and ready to play — and they went out and got the job done."

SMU got on the board first, as Gutterman led off the game with a double, and scored on Mandy Tschernach's (Rice Lake, Wis.) RBI single to center.

Gustavus tied the game in the fourth, when Audrey Lenoch launched a solo home run well over the fence in center field — one of just three hits allowed by SMU pitcher Jenny Schipp (North St. Paul, Minn.).

The Cardinals threatened in both the sixth and seventh — putting runners on second and third with one out in the sixth, and getting Amy Langer (Savage, Minn.) to third with two out in the seventh — but both times the Cardinals came up empty.

"We hit the ball well, but we're still not stringing our hits together, and we're not getting the clutch hits we need to," said Fennern, whose Cardinals outhit Gustavus 8-3 in Game 2 — and 18-9 for the doubleheader. "And right now, that's still a concern for me. We've got to do a better job of putting two or three hits together, and not have to rely on one or two key players to get hits for us.

"Having said that, I'll take a walk-off home run to win a game any day."