By John RittenhouseThe Luverne baseball team got off to a strong start in Southwest Conference play by sweeping a league double-header from Redwood Valley at Redbird Field Thursday.A two-homer effort by Brad Herman carried the Cardinals to a five-run victory in Game 1. Ben Nath and Zach Wysong combined efforts to drive in five runs to highlight a three-run victory in the finale.The sweep left the Cards with a 2-1 record.Luverne 8, RWV 3Herman drove in four runs with his two homers to set the stage for Luverne’s five-run victory in the opener.Trailing 3-2 after one and one-half innings of play, Herman belted a two-run homer to cap a four-run outburst in the bottom of the second to give the Cards a 6-3 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.Herman capped the scoring in the bottom of the fourth, when he drilled a line drive that sailed over the left-field fence after Wysong reached base on an error earlier in the inning.The Cards took a 2-1 lead when Wyatt Cote delivered a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the first.RWV regained the lead at 3-2 in the top of the second, but Luverne’s four-run effort in the bottom of the second put the Cards in front to stay.Wysong slapped a two-run double before scoring on Herman’s first homer, a towering fly ball that cleared the left-field fence by a couple of feet, to account for the two runs.Jared Pick worked the first five innings on the mound to notch the win. He allowed three runs (one was earned) four hits and one walk during a three-strikeout effort. Herman pitched two scoreless innings of relief. He walked two batters, fanned two batters and surrendered one hit.Box score AB R H BIPick 4 2 2 0Graphenteen 1 2 0 0Wysong 4 2 1 2Herman 3 2 2 4Cote 3 0 1 2Boelman 3 0 1 0Tofteland 2 0 1 0Nath 3 0 0 0Petersen 2 0 0 0Richters 1 0 0 0Luverne 9, RWV 6The Cardinals scored four runs in the top half of the first inning and never lost the lead during Thursday’s second game.Nath, who drove in three runs and recorded three hits in the game, delivered a two-run single to cap the four-run first inning. Wysong, who added two hits and two RBIs to the winning cause, and Marc Boelman contributed run-scoring singles to the opening rally.After RWV cut Luverne’s lead in half (4-2) in the bottom of the first, Wysong and Herman slapped RBI singles in the top of the second as Cards increased their lead to four runs at 6-2.The score was 6-3 when the both teams scored one run in the fifth inning and two in the seventh to keep the difference at three runs when the game was complete.Nath capped his three-RBI performance with a run-scoring single in the fifth.Herman walked and scored on a passed ball and John Tofteland slapped an RBI single in the seventh inning for LHS.J.T. Bruynes tossed the first four and two-thirds innings to pick up the win. He fanned four batters and allowed four runs and five hits. Wysong pitched the final two and one-third innings to gain a save. He recorded four strikeouts while allowing three hits and two runs.Box score AB R H BIPick 3 2 0 0Graphenteen 4 1 0 0Wysong 4 2 2 2Herman 3 2 2 1Cote 2 0 0 0Lundgren 1 1 0 0Boelman 2 1 1 1Deutsch 1 0 0 1Tofteland 4 0 2 1Nath 4 0 3 3Boler 2 0 0 0Johnson 1 0 0 0Petersen 1 0 0 0