Game 1 Box Score / Game 2 Box Score

WINONA, Minn. — Two games … two very different Saint Mary's University baseball teams.

The Cardinals were near-perfect in Game 1 of Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Macalester, getting a complete-game three-hitter from David Reiter (Elgin, Minn.) and a 3-for-3 performance from Dan Cosgrove (South St. Paul, Minn.) en route to a 2-0 victory.

The Cardinals were anything but perfect in the nightcap, however, as SMU managed just one hit through the first four innings, committed three errors, and let the Scots erupt for nine runs on 13 hits in earning the conference split with a 9-4 Game 2 win.

"That first game was a good baseball game," said SMU coach Nick Whaley, whose team recorded its first shutout win since a 4-0 victory over Penn State-Altoona on April 11, 2004, and blanked an MIAC team for the first time since a 7-0 shutout of Bethel on April 26, 2003. "David pitched a great game — much more like the David Reiter of a year ago.

"(Reiter) has been struggling with shoulder problems this season, and anytime you are battling shoulder troubles, what happens is you get inconsistency," continued Whaley, who had watched Reiter's ERA balloon to 9.26 in his first three starts of the season. "It was good to see the old David out there today."

Reiter certainly got his share of help — especially offensively, where SMU collected 11 hits and gave their senior right-hander a 2-0 first-inning lead to work with.

"We hit the ball well in the first game," said Whaley, who watched Cosgrove complete his third straight perfect game, going 3-for-3 to extend his streak to eight straight plate appearances with a hit. "I would have liked to see us score a few more runs, but it was good to see us swing the bats,"

As good as Reiter and the Cardinals were in the opener, a repeat performance was not in the cards in Game 2.

Macalester pitcher Jake Seltzer kept the Cardinals off balance with his off-speed pitches, and by the time SMU got dialed in, they were staring at a 7-0 deficit.

SMU did plate a single run in the fifth and three more in the sixth, but it was too little, too late. Even the hot-hitting Cosgrove couldn't get on track, going 0-for-3 with an RBI groundout.

"We got down early (in the second game) and the game just seemed to ground to a halt," said Whaley. "We couldn't get into any type of rhythm."