Game 1 Box Score / Game 2 Box Score

WINONA, Minn. — Giving up the big inning has been the Saint Mary's University baseball team's Achilles heel all season — 12 runs in the third inning against Winona State … 11 runs in the fifth inning against St. Olaf … five runs in the eighth inning against Viterbo … seven in the fifth inning — twice — against Gustavus … .

And, unfortunately for the Cardinals, that trend continued Saturday afternoon at Max Molock Field, as Hamline used a nine-run fifth inning en route to an 11-1 win in the opening game of the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader, then scored five times in the second inning of Game 2 in completing the sweeping with an 11-4 victory.

"It was a struggle all the way around today," said SMU coach Nick Whaley, whose team not only gave up 22 runs, but they also were knocked around for 27 hits and committed six errors. "It wasn't any one thing — everything was a struggle. We didn't hit well, our pitchers got hit hard, and we did not field the ball well."

The end result didn't tell the whole story in Game 1. Hamline used single runs in the first and second innings — while SMU got its lone run on a bases-loaded walk to Seth Pugh (Crystal, Minn.) in the bottom of the second —as the Pipers took a 2-1 lead into the top of the fifth inning.

By the time the Cardinals got the third out in the fifth, however, there was little doubt about the final outcome, as Hamline sent 12 batters to the plate, scoring nine times — four on a grand slam home run by Nate Dammann, and two more on a two-run HR by Owen Waller two batters later.

While Hamline's bats were busy battering a trio of SMU pitchers, Aron Helm, Anders Kronberg and Josh Rolfes were busy silencing the Cardinal bats, holding SMU to just three hits — two off the bat of Dusty Wilhelmy (Mendota Heights, Minn.), who finished 2-for-3 with a double.

SMU's bats came to life in the second game, collecting 11 hits — but managing just four runs. Hamline, meanwhile, was much more efficient with its hits, scoring 11 time son 14 hits.

The Pipers scored in each of the first four innings — once in the first, five times in the second and twice in the third and fourth. After giving up a run in the top of the first, SMU (3-7 MIAC, 6-16 overall) responded with three runs in the bottom of the first, fueled by a two-run double from Wilhelmy and an RBI double by Matt Rink (Rochester, Minn.).

From there, it was all Hamline, as the Pipers pushed their lead to 10-3, before SMU got its final run on a Dan Cosgrove (South St. Paul, Minn.) lead-off home run in the bottom of the fourth.

"You can't give up 11 runs and hope to win too many ball games," said Whaley, whose team has now dropped three straight. "But it wasn't just our pitchers fault, either. We had just three hits (in Game 1), we scored just four runs (on 11 hits) in the second game, and we committed six errors in a doubleheader — it all adds up to trouble."