Game 1 Box / Game 2 Box / GameDay Online

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team stepped out of the frying pan that is the grueling Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule.

And right into the fire.

The Cardinals took a “break” from their conference slate Thursday at the SMU Field, but there was no resting, as SMU squared off against UW-Eau Claire — last year's NCAA Division III national champions and this year's 18th-ranked team in the nation.

And the Blugolds' offensive attack was certainly national-championship caliber, as UW-Eau Claire burned the Cardinals for 11 Game 1 runs en route to an 12-1, five-inning victory, then completed the sweep with a 9-1 triumph in the nightcap.

“It wasn't quite the type of performance we were hoping for heading into our final two conference games,” said SMU coach Jen Miller, whose team goes from the defending national champions to the nation's eighth-ranked team when SMU rounds out its MIAC season with two games at St. Thomas on Saturday. “Give Eau Claire credit, they are a very good team and they swung the bats well. But we didn't really help ourselves out much, either — it wasn't one of our best performances.”

Both teams came out slugging to open Game 1, as UW-Eau Claire plated two runs in the top of the first, while SMU responded in the bottom half of the first with three hits, including an RBI single by Mallory Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) — and left the bases loaded.

That missed opportunity would come back to haunt the Cardinals, as UW-Eau Claire erupted for five runs in the second and four more in the fourth en route to the five-inning victory.

The Blugolds picked up right where they left off in Game 2, scoring in every inning but the third. UW-Eau Claire scored a single run in the first and twice more in the second to take a 3-0 lead. SMU got on the board in the third on a two-double to left by Katy Gannon (Roselle, Ill.).

That would be the extent of the Cardinals' offense, while UW-EC was just warming up, adding two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and three in the sixth to ice the win.

The Cardinals were held to just 10 hits in the doubleheader — five in each game — with five different players scattering five singles in the opener vs. UW-EC ace Ashley Meinen, while Gannon went 2-for-2 with an RBI in Game 2.

“We knew coming in that (Eau Claire) was going to be a tough opponent, and they certainly didn't disappoint,” said Miller. “Now we have to reground and get ready for Saturday — (St. Thomas) is going to be as good, if not better — and we need to be at our best if we are going to give them a run.”