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Box Score / GameDay Online

FORT MYERS, Fla. — If Saint Mary's University baseball coach Nick Whaley learned anything about his team from Friday's nonconference game against Illinois College, it's that his Cardinals are not early risers.

But once they are fully awake, now that's another story.

After sleep-walking through the first four-and-a-half innings, the Cardinals' bats finally came to life, scoring twice in the fifth to tie the game at three, then scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to break a 4-4 tie and lift SMU to a 6-4, nine-inning victory over the Blueboys in the teams' final game of their nine-game spring trip.

“It's a nice way for us to close out our trip,” said Whaley, whose team snapped a four-game losing streak with the come-front-behind win — improving the Cardinals to 3-6 overall. “The guys have proven all week that they are a resilient bunch — no matter what the situation, they have never stopped playing the game.

“And today was  a perfect example of what can happen when you keep plugging away.”

After spotting Illinois College a 3-1 lead after two innings, the Cardinals' alarm finally went off — and SMU's bats came to life, getting an RBI single from Brady Knudsen (Racine, Wis.) to highlight a two-run fifth that knotted the game at 3-3.

The Cardinals took their first lead of the game in the sixth, as Arron Merchlewitz (Winona, Minn.) delivered a two-out single, scoring Robbie Johnson (Stillwater, Minn.), who opened the inning with a single, and moved to third on back-to-back groundouts.

SMU gave the run back in the top of the eighth on a David Olson wild pitch, then took the lead for good with two runs in the bottom of the inning .

“We started out pretty slow — we weren't making the most of our at-bats,” said Whaley, noting that eight of the Cardinals' first 12 runs were by fly balls. “Once we decided to swing the bats the way we are capable of, things started to fall into place.

“This was a great trip for us,” added Whaley. “Our goal was to make sure that we left the ball park a better team than when we started the day, and I think we accomplished that.

“We came into the week not really knowing what type of team we had — and we are leaving with a much better idea.”

One thing is certain, Whaley will be sure not to schedule any more 9 a.m. games.