Game 1 Box Score / Game 2 Box Score

WINONA, Minn. — After going at least eight innings in three of their last six games, the Saint Mary's University baseball team made certain they weren't going to put in any overtime against Bethel in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field Saturday.

The Cardinals erupted for three runs in the second and two more in the third en route to a 7-2 victory in Game 1, then rode the right arm of Chuck Wright (Winona, Minn.) to a 7-0 victory in the nightcap.

After going eight innings in a 5-4 loss to Gustavus on April 17, nine innings in a 2-1 loss to league-leading St. Thomas Tuesday and 11 innings in a 3-2 win over St. Olaf on Wednesday, the last thing SMU coach Nick Whaley needed was another extra-inning game.

He desperately needed to give his bullpen a rest.

And rest they did.

Cory Kanz (Oronoco, Minn.) pitched five innings of eight-hit ball and got two innings of scoreless relief from Rob Hollnagel (La Crosse, Wis.) in the opener, while Wright tossed a complete-game five-hitter in the nightcap.

And while the pitching staff shouldered their share of the load, the Cardinals' offense certainly did its part.

Pat Gornick (West St. Paul, Minn.) laced a two-run double in SMU's three-run second inning, then added a solo home run in the fourth, while Rob Kimlinger (Lake Elmo, Minn.) delivered a two-run double.

And while Wright didn't need much offensive support in his complete-game effort in Game 2, the Cardinals were more than happy to give him a little run support, scoring four times in the second — one on an RBI single by Gornick and the other three on Troy Deden's (Northfield, Minn.) first-ever collegiate home run, a three-run shot — and three times in the sixth.

The Cardinals, who push their winning streak to three straight, improve to 8-8 in the MIAC and 13-13 overall, while Bethel falls to 3-13 in the MIAC and 13-17 overall.