WINONA, Minn. — Big innings ruled the day Tuesday afternoon at Max Molock Field.
 
Unfortunately for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team, it was visiting UW-La Crosse that was ruling the roost.
 
The Eagles scored three of more runs three times—twice in the opening game of their nonconference doubleheader against the Cardinals, and once more in the second—as UW-La Crosse dealt Saint Mary's 9-2 and 8-1 losses.
 
UW-La Crosse did not waste any time putting up one of those big innings, scoring three times in the Eagles' first at-bat of the day—all three coming on a Justin Anderson home run.
 
The Eagles would tack on a solo run in the second, two more in the fourth, and their second three-run inning of the game in the sixth to grab a commanding 9-0 lead.
 
Saint Mary's finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth, getting a two-out, two-run double from Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Wis.)—but that would be the only offensive highlight for the Cardinals, who dropped the opening game of a doubleheader for the first time this season.
 
Pieczynski finished a perfect 3-for-3 in the opener, while Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.) and Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) each chipped in a pair of hits.
 
There would be no early game fireworks in the nightcap—but the Eagles did score a single run off Saint Mary's starter Jacob Dawson (Oakdale, Minn.) in the first inning to grab an early 1-0 lead.
 
Saint Mary's answered with a solo run of its own in the fourth, as Buerkle singled scored all the way from first on a Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) double.
 
But again, that would prove to be the only run the Cardinals would produce.
 
UW-La Crosse, meanwhile,, put the game out of reach in its final three at-bats, scoring twice in the fifth, once in the sixth and four more times in the seventh to complete the sweep.
 
The Cardinals were limited to just four hits, from four different players—Buerkle, Kinne, Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.), and A.J. Redders (Middleton, Wis.)—while UW-La Crosse battered three Saint Mary's pitchers for eight runs on 13 hits.
 
The Cardinals (12-5 overall) are right back in action on Wednesday—weather permitting—traveling to Siebert Field in Minneapolis, Minn., for a nine-inning nonconference game against NCAA Division I University of Minnesota.