By
ALEX NUEHRING
Saint Mary's Sports Information Intern
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team was looking to extend its two-game winning streak when the Cardinals took the field Tuesday afternoon in its home opener—but they faced a tough test against the red-hot UW-La Crosse in a nonconference doubleheader at the Saint Mary's Field.
Ultimately, the Eagles proved to be too much for the Cardinals to handle, as they dealt Saint Mary's a pair of losses, 3-0 and 11-3.
UW-La Crosse got on the board early in Game 1, getting an RBI double by Grace Mindrup to grab a 1-0 lead.
The Eagles clawed their way to another run in third inning, stringing together a single, a stolen base, and a bunt single, before Brittany Baldwin scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.
The Cardinals kept the deficit at two—thanks to some great defense. Two laser throws from the outfield to the catcher prevented two more UW-La Crosse runs in the third inning.
In the fourth inning, the Eagles struck for the third and final time, this one off an RBI double by Kerrigan Koch.
The Cardinals' offense also began to pick up late in the game, putting runners on first and second in both the sixth and seventh inning, but couldn't convert those into runs.
The Cardinals managed just three hits—all singles off the bats of
Brittney Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.),
Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn.), and
Allie Borawski (Stickney, Ill.)—in the opener off a pair of UW-L pitchers.
In Game 2, Saint Mary's got off to great defensive start, as Birkhauser made a diving stop at her shortstop position and threw to first to record the first out of the game.
Despite that defensive gem, UW-La Crosse grabbed another early lead, as a fielder's choice by Grace Mindrup scored Sydney Murphy and a double by Sabrina Scardamaglia plated Mia Schmidtke for a 2-0 Eagle advantage.
The Cardinals responded in the bottom of the first, when a single by
Kali Aldrich (Rochester, Minn.) scored two runs to tie the game at 2-2.
The Eagles took back the lead when Baldwin scored on a double by Schmidtke. However, another great throw from the Saint Mary's outfield to the catcher avoided another UW-La Crosse run.
UW-La Crosse scored again in the top of the third inning, when Haley Radewan doubled to score Scardamaglia to push the lead to 4-2.
Unfortunately, it was the fourth inning when things really got out of hand for the Cardinals.
First, a three-run home run by Schmidtke pushed the Eagles' lead to five, 7-2. And UW-La Crosse wasn't done, scoring three more runs on a single and two wild pitches to make it 10-2 game.
Saint Mary's plated a run in the fifth, but by then it was too little, too late.
Similar to the opener, the Cardinals four Game 2 hits came from four different players—Borawski, Aldrich,
Haley Vanourney (Marion, Iowa), and
Tara Nikolich (Chicago, Ill.).
The Cardinals (5-7 overall) play again on Thursday, March 29, when they host a doubleheader against the University of Wisconsin River Falls. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
