ROSEVILLE, Minn. — There's something about playing at Northwestern's Reynolds Field that seems to bring out the best in the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team's offense.
 
At least for one game of a doubleheader.
 
Just three days ago, the Cardinals erupted for 10 Game 2 hits in beating the Eagles 10-7 and earn a split in the teams' nonconference doubleheader.
 
Sunday afternoon, the Cardinals returned to UNW's home turf for a neutral-site nonconference doubleheader against St. Scholastica — and promptly scored 12 runs in the opener.
 
Unfortunately, 12 runs was not enough, as the Saints outscored Saint Mary's 14-12 Game 1, and completed the sweep with a 6-1 triumph in the nightcap.
 
 The Cardinals jumped out to a 5-3 lead after just two innings in the opener, scoring once in the top of the first and adding four runs in the second to off-set CSS's three-run first inning.
 
St. Scholastica rattled off seven unanswered runs — four in the third and three in the fourth ­ to take what appeared to be a commanding 10-5 advantage, only to have Saint Mary's put up a five-run fifth, highlighted by a two-run double off the bat of Mackenzie Carey (Prescott, Wis.), to knot the game at 10-10.
 
But the teams weren't finished — not by a long shot.
 
CSS regained the lead 11-10, and outscored the Cardinals 3-2 in the sixth to ice the win.
 
Amber Chow (West St. Paul, Minn.) and Marissa Kleckler (Oregon, Wis.) paced the Cardinals' 14-hit offensive attack, both collecting three hits, while Lexi Brooks (Searcy, Ark.) added a 2-for-3, three-run, three-RBII effort and Justin Schultz (Winona, Minn.) chipped in a pair of hits.
 
There weren't nearly as many offensive fireworks in the second game — especially from the Cardinals, who managed just seven hits and a solo, second-inning run.
 
St. Scholastica scored all the runs it would need in a two-run first, before adding one run in the fourth and three more in the top of the seventh to complete the sweep.
 
Lizzy Baird (Wells, Minn.) was the only Cardinal with more than one hit, finishing 2-for-2, while Schultz, Chow, Carey, and Kleckler, and Erin Sullivan () accounted for SMU's other five hits.
 
The Cardinals (1-5 overall) are back in action on Sunday, heading to Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 3 p.m. nonconference doubleheader against the Auggies.