Winona, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team dropped a non-conference doubleheader at nationally-ranked Saint Mary's University (Minn.) Wednesday afternoon at Saint Mary's Field. The Cardinals, ranked 22nd on this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top-25 Poll, earned a 6-5 win in game one and 10-3 in the nightcap.
 
UWL falls to 15-11 overall while Saint Mary's (Minn.) improves to 23-3.
 
The Cardinals started the scoring in the first inning in the opener when Makayla Steffes scored off a Peyton Berg sacrifice fly. Later in the inning, Megan McGinnis scored on a wild pitch to give Saint Mary's (Minn.) an early 2-0 lead.
 

UWL got on the board in the second inning as Ava Jaehnke hit a three-run home run to score Amber Gonzalez and Marissa Pease to give the Eagles a 3-2 lead.
 
The scoring continued for UWL in the top of the fourth inning on a Gonzalez' RBI double to score Lindsay Steien to make it 4-2. Later in the inning, Carly Gross also delivered a run-scoring double to knock in Gonzalez and extend the Eagles' lead to 5-2.
 
Saint Mary's (Minn.) cut UWL's lead to one with a two-run home run by Abbie Stigler to score Allison Ciero in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it 5-4. The Cardinals tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning on a Heather Nordlund RBI single to score Brianna Nusbaum.
 
Steffes opened the bottom of the seventh with a single and went to second on McGinnis' sacrifice bunt. Berg knocked in Steffes with an RBI double with the game-winning run.
 
Madi Lee (3-2) suffered the loss for UWL, pitching 0.1 inning, allowing two hits and one run. Carmen Follette started, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing four hits, four runs and three walks while striking out three. Brynne Bieri went 2.0 innings, allowing two hits and one run with one strikeout.
 
UWL finished with 11 hits as Gonzalez went 3-for-3 with an RBI and double. Gross went 2-for-3 with an RBI and one double. Jaehnke finished with three RBI.
 
Kenzie Gatz (10-1) earned the win for Saint Mary's (Minn.), pitching 1.1 innings with one strikeout. Steffes started, going 5.2 innings, allowing 11 hits, five runs and one walk with five strikeouts.
 
The Cardinals totaled eight hits in the opener. McGinnis went 2-for-3 with one run while Berg and Stigler both finished 2-for-3 with two RBI.
 
Saint Mary's (Minn.) started the scoring in the nightcap on Berg's two-run double in the first inning to score McGinnis and Steffes. Later in the inning, Ciero hit an RBI single to score Karli Zetah, giving the Cardinals the early 3-0 lead.
 
In the bottom of the second, Zoe Fink's two-RBI single scored McGinnis and Steffes to extend the lead to 5-0. Steffes added a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to score Ariel Herrera to make it 7-0.
 
UWL got on the board in the sixth inning on Maddy Bornbach's two-run double, knocking in Kyra Lard and Abbey Bosch. Steien's RBI double scored Bornbach, cutting the lead to 7-3.
 
Saint Mary's (Minn.) continued the scoring in the sixth inning when Steffes reached on an error to score Alexandra Gerber. Grace Leis scored on a wild pitch, extending the Cardinals' lead to 9-3 and Steffes later came in on a McGinnis groundout.
 
Kaeley Niemiec (6-3) suffered the loss, pitching 1.2 innings, allowing seven hits, five runs and two walks with one strikeout. Claire Springer went 3.1 innings, allowing three hits and four runs (two earned) with three strikeouts. Steien pitched 1.0 inning, allowing one hit, one run and one walk with one strikeout.
 
UWL had seven hits in the nightcap with Steien and Lard each finishing 2-for-3. Bornbach had two RBI while Stein finished with one. Lard scored once.  
 
Gatz (11-1) also earned the win in the second game, going 6.0 innings, allowing seven hits and three runs while recording eight strikeouts.
 
Saint Mary's (Minn.) totaled 11 hits as Steffes finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and four runs. McGinnis went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs.
 
UWL returns to action Saturday, April 12 hosting 11th-ranked UW-Oshkosh in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener. The first game of the doubleheader starts at 1 p.m.