Game 1 Box Score / Game 2 Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Thursday afternoon, the Saint Mary's University baseball team had what coach Nick Whaley tabbed, "one of the most fun days I've had on a baseball field ever."

Back-to-back wins over St. John's — including a Game 2 effort that saw SMU score all 11 runs, including four in the top of the eighth, with two outs — can be pretty enjoyable.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, when they needed a clutch hit in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Augsburg — their bats were silent.

And that made for a rather unenjoyable afternoon for the Cardinals.

Augsburg scored three runs in its first at-bat and plated five more in their last at-bat in hammering SMU 10-0 in the opening game of their twinbill. The Auggies jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the nightcap, then hung on for dear life as SMU scored twice in the second, only to come up one run short in falling 3-2.

The Auggies tagged SMU starter Jesse Pedersen (St. Charles, Minn.) for nine runs (six earned) on nine hits in five innings. Augsburg also took full advantage of five Pedersen walks.

SMU, meanwhile, managed just four hits — all singles and all in different innings — and didn't get a runner past second base.

The Auggies scored single runs in the second, third and fourth innings off SMU starter David Reiter (Elgin, Minn.) to take a 3-0 lead into the fifth — where the Cardinals attempted to put together yet another late-game rally.

Nick Winecke (St. Paul, Minn.) led off with a double and moved to third when Ryan Majerus (St. Charles, Minn.) reached on an Augsburg error. Majerus then stole second and Matt Rink (Rochester, Minn.) walked to load the bases for Brady Knudsen (Racine, Wis.), who promptly laced a double to center to score Winecke and Majerus.

And, with runners on second and third with no one out, it looked like SMU was ready to blow the game wide open. After all, in situations like that on Thursday, the Cardinals delivered — again, and again.

That, however, was then, this was now.

The Auggies got back-to-back strikeouts and a ground out to end the threat — and the Cardinals' hopes of a split.