Box Score | GameDay Preview

LA CROSSE, Wis. — It didn't take Saint Mary's University baseball coach Nick Winecke to point out the deciding factors in Thursday's nonconference game against UW-La Crosse.

Walks and strikeouts.

The Eagles' walks and the Cardinals' strikeouts.

UW-La Crosse took advantage of eight walks, while three Eagle pitchers combined to strike out 10 SMU batters, as UW-L handed the Cardinals an 8-2 setback.

“You aren't going to win a lot of ball games when you walk eight batters and strike out 10 times, it's that simple,” said Winecke. “Even with all the walks and strikeouts, we still had our chances to come away with a win — we just couldn't get the big hit when we needed it, and (UW-La Crosse) did.”

The Eagles opened the scoring with a single run in the bottom of the first inning, but the Cardinals answered with a run in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Luke Larson (Bloomington, Minn.).

UW-L answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, getting a bases-loaded, three-run double by Cole Cefaiu, then tacked on two more runs in the fifth to make it a 6-1 game.

Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.) delivered an RBI single in the seventh to cut the gap to 6-2, but SMU left the bases loaded when UW-L third baseman Brett Jacobson robbed Andrew Warren (Stillwater, Minn.) of a sure extra-base hit with a diving catch to end the inning.

The Eagles closed out the scoring in the eight, again taking advantage of an SMU walk to plate a pair of runs.

Swanson, Vince Lulic (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Daniel Geraghty (Chicago, Ill.) each had two hits to account for six of SMU's seven hits, while the Eagles banged out 10 hits off three SMU pitchers.

The Cardinals (4-10 overall) are back in action on Saturday, when they host St. Olaf in a 1 p.m.. conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.