Rick Santorum (Photo courtesy of Creative Commons)

Although Santorum defeated frontrunner Mitt Romney by a wide margin in Louisiana’s popular vote (49-27 percent), the victory only gave him a five-delegate advantage over Romney in the battle for the Pelican State’s 20 delegates rewarded on Saturday, according to The New York Times. Louisiana will award its 26 other delegates at the state GOP convention in June.

Santorum made an appearance Sunday on CBS’ Face the Nation, where he accused Romney of “running an Etch a Sketch campaign,” referring to remarks made by his rival’s senior campaign adviser Eric Fehrnstrom in a CNN interview.

"Even though a lot of folks are saying this race is over, the people in Louisiana said, `No, it's not,’” Santorum said. “They still want to see someone who they can trust. And I think that’s what helped us deliver the win in Louisiana, and I think we’re going to do very well up here in Wisconsin, too.”

Wisconsin will have 42 delegates at stake in its Tuesday, April 3 contest. The latest Rasmussen poll shows Romney has a 13-point lead in Wisconsin, despite Santorum having the edge back in February, according to the Daily Beast.

Maryland’s 37 delegates and the District of Columbia’s 19 will also be rewarded the same day. Santorum failed to land on D.C.’s ballot.

But ballot issues aside, the former Pennsylvania senator faces a steep challenge trying to chip away at Romney’s lead in delegates. Romney remains far ahead with 568 delegates to Santorum’s 273, according to the latest Associated Press tally. Newt Gingrich is in third with 135 and Ron Paul has 50.

Santorum told reporters in Milwaukee he wants to debate the former Massachusetts governor without Gingrich and Paul on stage.

"This race has clearly gotten down to two candidates that can win the nomination," Santorum said. "I'd love to have a one-on-one debate."

Romney’s campaign downplayed the significance of Santorum’s Louisiana win.

Spokesman Ryan Williams said, "Rick Santorum is like a football team celebrating a field goal when they are losing by seven touchdowns with less than a minute left in the game.”

Reach Staff Reporter Danny Lee here, or follow him here.