Box Score

IRVING, Texas — Chuck Wright (Winona, Minn.), Nick Steig (Osseo, Wis.) and Aric Kittelson (Prescott, Wis.) set the bar pretty high Saturday, as the trio led the Cardinals to 5-1 and 8-0 wins over UW-Platteville.

Sunday morning in the final game of SMU's five-day trip to Texas, SMU's pitchers not only met those high standards — they pushed the bar that much higher.

Jesse Pedersen (St. Charles, Minn.) tossed four innings of three-hit ball, Rob Hollnagel (La Crosse, Wis.) was perfect in the fifth and sixth, and Dane Bonath (Robbinsdale, Minn.) completed the shutout as the Cardinals won their third straight, beating Carleton 6-0.

"Our pitchers did a great job," said SMU coach Nick Whaley, whose team closed out its six-game southern swing with a 4-2 record. "You come on trips like this to get better by playing, and I think we did that. Also, it's a time to learn a little bit about your team, and I think we accomplished both of those things.

"Our bats improved from the beginning to end, our pitchers did a great job — and we got to play a whole bunch of different situations," continued Whaley. "The game is always a challenge, no matter who you play — and I think we met that challenge."

The Cardinals didn't waste any time giving Pedersen some run support, scoring once in the first inning and twice in the second. Rob Kimlinger (Lake Elmo, Minn.) drove in the first with the first of his three sacrifice flies, and Tony Cicalello (St. Paul, Minn.) added a two-run single in the second. SMU then added solo runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to ice the win.

Pedersen, making his first start of the season, worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and a second-and-third situation in the third in picking up his first career win. He struck out four and walked two. Hollnagel, meanwhile, worked a one-two-three fifth and survived a walk and an SMU error to keep the Knights off the board in the sixth. Bonath then struck out two of the four batters he faced in the seventh.

"It was a good trip for us," concluded Whaley. "We obviously still have plenty to work on when we get back, but it was a good start."