Game 1 Box Score / Game 2 Box Score

WINONA, Minn. — A year ago, the St. Olaf baseball team suffered just two Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference losses en route to capturing the conference regular-season championship.

Both losses came at the hands of Saint Mary's, as the Cardinals swept the Oles 7-1 and 2-1 at Max Molock Field.

This year, the Oles were back on familiar turf — atop the MIAC standings — heading into Saturday's showdown with the Cardinals. And while St. Olaf had already suffered a conference loss this season, the Oles did have another rather impressive streak on the line — just one home loss in the last three years.

Make that two.

Led by the left arm of pitcher Eric Williamson (St. Charles, Minn.), the Cardinals beat St. Olaf for the third straight time, 8-2 in Saturday's opening game. St. Olaf, however, rebounded with a 10-3 win in Game 2 to earn the split.

"It was a good split for us," said SMU coach Nick Whaley, whose team has now split its last four MIAC doubleheaders. "St. Olaf is a very good team, and I thought in the first game we rose up to the challenge and played an excellent game. We didn't play so well in the second game and it showed in the final score.

"Right now we've got to find a way to play at that high level every game," continued Whaley, whose team split with Gustavus, losing 8-3 in the opener, before winning 13-7 in the nightcap, in its only other games last week. "We can't just do it for one game, and then let down in the second. Good teams find a way to do it every game."

St. Olaf tagged Williamson for three hits and a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning, but that was all the Oles would get off the Cardinal junior as Williamson tossed his second complete-game of the season.

SMU gave Williamson all the run support he would need in the second as the Cardinals erupted for four runs on RBI singles by Seth Pugh (Crystal, Minn.), Aaron Smolinski (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and Tony Cicalello (St. Paul, Minn.). SMU padded its lead to 6-2 with two more runs in the third, then put the game out of reach with a two-run sixth.

The Cardinals' offense didn't have quite the same pop in the second game, managing just a single run in the second and two in the sixth. St. Olaf, meanwhile, battered three SMU pitchers for 10 runs — including a four-run second and a three-run third — on 11 hits. The Oles also took advantage of six SMU errors.