St. Thomas Box Score / St. Olaf Box Score

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — It was a red-hot start that sent the Saint Mary's University baseball team to the canvas in the opening gameof the MIAC Tournament — and it was a sizzling finish that knocked the Cardinals out of the double-elimination tournament.

St. Thomas used a three-run first inning to get off and running en route to a 10-2 tournament-opening victory over the Cardinals.

SMU made a few adjustments, holding the Oles scoreless through the first five innings — grabbing a 3-0 advantage of its own — only to have St. Olaf score twice in the sixth, once in the seventh and once in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Cardinals 4-3.

The Cardinals jumped out to their 3-0 advantage via an RBI single by Greg Setterflund (St. Paul, Minn.) in the third and an RBI double by Rob Kimlinger (Lake Elmo, Minn.) and a sacrifice fly by Matt Domarus (Woodbury, Minn.) in the fourth. The Oles, the two-time defending MIAC regular-season champs, cut SMU's lead to one with two runs in the sixth on a pair of RBI singles, then tied things up at 3-3 on a lead-off home run by Joe Pavelko in the seventh.

The Oles dodged a bullet in the top of the ninth when Tony Cicalello (St. Paul, Minn.), who reached via a one-out single to left, was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a single by Andy Campbell (Omaha, Neb.).

St. Olaf then got the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth on a one-out bases-loaded sacrifice fly to left.

Cicalello, who went 4-for-4 in SMU's 10-2 loss to St. Thomas, added two more hits against the Oles to finish the tournament 6-for-8. Campbell and Kimlinger also chipped in two hits for the Cardinals, who finished with eight hits.

Nick Steig (Osseo, Wis.) took the loss in relief of starter Cory Kanz (Oronoco, Minn.), who went the first seven innings, giving up three runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Steig allowed two hits and surrendered the game-winning ninth-inning run, while walking two and striking out one. St. Olaf's Charlie Ruud picked up the complete-game victory, striking out six.
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