By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
LA CROSSE, Wis. — Amy Kulaga (Riverside, Ill.) and Erin Sullivan (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) did everything they could for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota fastpitch softball team during the opening game of the Cardinals' nonconference doubleheader against UW-La Crosse.
 
Unfortunately, their Herculean effort was not quite enough.
 
The Cardinal dynamic duo accounted for six of Saint Mary's eight hits — each recording their first collegiate three-hit game — but UW-La Crosse rained on their offensive parade, scoring a walk-off, unearned run in the bottom of the seventh inning to deal the Cardinals a 6-5 Game 1 setback.
 
And the Cardinals never recovered, managing just four hits — and no more than one in any inning — as UW-La Crosse completed the sweep with a 6-0 victory in the nightcap.
 
The Cardinals certainly didn't make things easy on themselves in the opener, spotting the Eagles a 4-0 lead after the game's first two innings. UW-L laced a pair of first-inning home runs, and delivered back-to-back run-scoring doubles in the second to grab the four-run advantage.
 
Saint Mary's finally got its offense on track in the fifth, scoring three times. Sullivan, Marissa Kleckler (Oregon, Wis.), Kulaga, and Roni Stevens (Delano, Minn.) opened the inning with back-to-back-to-back-to-back singles — Kulaga's scoring the Cardinals' first run and Stevens' plating the second. Justine Schultz (Winona, Minn.) drove in the third run of the inning when she was hit with a pitch with the bases loaded.
 
The Cardinals completed their climb out of that early four-run hole, pulling even, 4-4, in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Hallie Schmeling (Onalaska, Wis.).
 
UW-La Crosse responded with a solo run in the bottom of the sixth, but again the Cardinals would have an answer, as Sullivan delivered a run-scoring, two-out double in the seventh to knot the game at 5-5.
 
 Unfortunately for Saint Mary's, the Eagles had an answer to the Cardinals' answer, scoring the game-winning run on a two-out Saint Mary's fielding error.
 
Kulaga and Sullivan accounted for six of the Cardinals' eight hits in Game 1, with Kulaga going 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Sullivan was 3-for-4 and also drove in one run and scored once.
 
The Eagles picked up right where they left off in Game 2, scoring single runs in the second and third innings, before adding two more in the fourth in taking a 4-0 lead for the second straight game.
 
And UW-La Crosse wasn't finished, scoring single runs in both the fifth and sixth inning — giving the Eagles at least one run scored in every inning but the first — in completing the nonconference sweep.
 
Sullivan collected her fourth hit of the afternoon, going 1-for-3, while Schmeling, Schultz, Paige Gudmundson (Plainview, Minn.), and McKayla Ahlrich (Sleepy Eye, Minn.) had Saint Mary's other four hits.
 
The Cardinals (4-10 overall) kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play this weekend with a pair of home doubleheaders at the Saint Mary's Field. Saint Mary's hosts Gustavus at 1 p.m. on Saturday, before entertaining St. Olaf the following afternoon, also beginning at 1 p.m.