Game 1 Box Score /
Game 2 Box Score /
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — About the only positive Saint Mary's University baseball coach
Nick Whaley could find Thursday was the fact that it wasn't raining — and in a season full of cancellations, the Cardinals were actually going to get a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader underway.
After watching his team's performance against Saint John's, however, Whaley probably wished there had been a torrential downpour.
The Johnnies erupted for 23 runs in the conference doubleheader, scoring 12 times in the opener and 11 more in the nightcap, as SJU swept past the Cardinals 12-3 and 11-6.
"It wasn't the type of performance we were hoping for — especially with the schedule we've got coming up," said Whaley, whose Cardinals face the conference's top three teams — St. Thomas, Gustavus and St. Olaf in its next three doubleheaders. "We didn't hit well, we didn't field well, and we didn't pitch well — there wasn't any facet of the game we did well."
And Whaley wasn't exaggerating, either.
Poor pitching: The Johnnies feasted on SMU pitching, scoring 23 runs on 24 hits.
Poor fielding: The Cardinals committed six errors — including four in the second game alone.
Poor hitting: SMU managed just five hits — all singles, and all by different players — in the opener, then scored just six runs on 11 hits in Game 2.
"We just couldn't seem to do anything right today," said Whaley. "It was just one of those days."
The Johnnies put the opener out of reach early, scoring four runs in each of the first two innings to take an 8-0 lead — padding that advantage to 12-1 with a single run in the fourth, two more in the sixth, and another in the top of the seventh, before the Cardinals closed out the scoring in the bottom of the seventh with a pair of bases-loaded walks.
The Cardinals got off on the right foot in the nightcap, taking a 3-2 lead after two innings. Before SMU scored again, however, the Johnnies would plate nine runs — two in the third, five in the fourth and two more in the sixth — to put the game out of reach.
"This is definitely a day we have to put behind us as quickly as possible," said Whaley. "We've got some tough, tough games coming up, and we can't afford to be feeling sorry for ourselves — we've just got to put these games behind us and move on."
