Game 1 Boxscore / Game 2 Boxscore

WINONA, Minn. — It was the perfect start to the final chapter for Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball seniors Jenny Schipp (Oakdale, Minn.) and Jenni Gutterman (Shoreview, Minn.).

"it was the ending that needed a little work.

Schipp tossed her fourth career no-hitter and drove in the game-winning run with an RBI double in the third, while Gutterman went 1-for-3 with an RBI as the Cardinals opened their nonconference doubleheader against UW-La Crosse with a 3-1 victory.

Things weren't quite so memorable in the nightcap, however, as SMU scored in the first inning, then failed to score again until the bottom of the 11th — and by that time, it was too little, too late, as UW-L scored once in the fifth and twice in the top of the 11th to beat the Cardinals 3-2 and earn a split in Thursday's DH at the SMU Field.

"It's kind of a bittersweet day," said SMU coach Nikki Fennern, noting that Thursday's games were the final home games for SMU's two graduating seniors. "Gut and Schipp have carried this team all year, and today was no different.

"That first game was outstanding — to have Jenny throw a no-hitter and Gut to be so pivotal at the plate and in the field, it was a great start to their Senior Day.

"It's just too bad we couldn't have finished it off a little better."

Schipp was dominant en route to her fourth career no-hitter in Game 1, as the SMU senior did not allow a ball out of the infield, striking out 13 and facing just one batter over the minimum. That batter was Jenny Miller, who was hit by a one-out offering from Schipp, moved to second on a passed ball, then scored all the way from second on a second straight passed ball.

The Cardinals got on the board in the third on Schipp's RBI double, then plated two more in the bottom of the fourth, one on one of the four UW-L errors and the other on an RBI single by Gutterman.

SMU could have used a few of those clutch hits in the nightcap.

Gutterman got things rolling, opening the bottom of the first with a lead-off double — extending her hitting streak to a season-high 14 games — and scoring on an RBI single by Nikki Jung (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.).

From there, however, the Cardinals' bats went silent, as SMU managed two hits in the fourth, a one-out single by Jess Weisbrod (Rollingstone, Minn.) in the seventh and a two-out single by Erin Leone (Farmington, Minn.) in the ninth.

After a scoreless 10th, in which UW-L threatened — getting a runner to third with no one out, only to have her picked off by Weisbrod — the Eagles plated a pair of runs in the top of the 11th to take a 3-1 advantage.

Jenny Giannini (River Grove, Ill.) cut the gap to 3-2 with a two-out double, but was stranded when Tara Close (North St. Paul, Minn.) flew out to end the threat — and the SMU senior's home careers.

"We've been struggling a bit at the plate of late, and I was a little worried about that coming into today," said Fennern, whose team managed just 10 hits in the two games vs. UW-L. "We just didn't get the big hits when we needed them — especially in that second game."