Game 1 Box / Game 2 Box / GameDay Online

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — Saint Mary's University baseball coach Nick Winecke has lived by one simple creed all season: “Put yourselves in position to win ball games in the late innings.”

Which is exactly what the Cardinals have been doing.

Problem is, despite being in position to win ball games, the wins haven't cooperated.

Take Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Saint John's, for example.

The Cardinals battled the Johnnies tooth-and-nail in the opener, with SJU holding a 2-1 advantage heading into the bottom of the sixth inning — where the Johnnies erupted for three runs en route to the 5-1 Game 1 win.

And in the nightcap, the Cardinals raced out to a 6-0 lead after three innings, led 7-5 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, only to allow three unanswered SJU runs — the last with two outs in the bottom of the eighth — lifting the Johnnies to an 8-7 win and a sweep of the teams' conference twinbill.

“It's frustrating, because the guys are doing everything we could ask of them,” said Winecke, whose team fell to 0-12 in the MIAC and 4-22 overall with the losses. “I've said over and over all season long that our goal is to put ourselves in position to win ball games in the late innings, and that's exactly what we are doing.

“We just can't seem to find a way to seal the deal.”

The Johnnies got on the board first in the opener, scoring on a two-out off SMU starter Andy Pass (Prescott, Wis.) — who tossed a complete-game five-hitter, striking out four and not walking a batter.

SMU got that run back in the top of the third on an RBI groundout by Kyle Ryan (St. Paul, Minn.), but SJU regained its one-run lead in the bottom of the third on back-to-back one-out doubles.

The Johnnies then broke the game open in the sixth, scoring three times on just one hit to ice the victory.

Tyler Kruse (Minneapolis, Minn.) led the Cardinals' offensive attack, collecting two of the team's five hits, while Ryan drove in the team's lone run.

SMU's offense made it look as easy as 1-2-3 to open Game 2 — as in one run in the first, two runs in the second and three runs in the third — to take what appeared to be a commanding 6-0 advantage.

SJU responded with three runs of its own in the bottom of the third to cut the Cardinals' lead in half, and, after the Johnnies made it 6-5 with two runs in the fourth, the Cardinals got an RBI single from Ryan Archambault (Faribault, Minn.) to pad their lead to 7-5.

From there, however, the Cardinals' offense stalled — and the Johnnies' kicked into another gear, as SJU tied the game with two runs in the seventh, then handed SMU's third extra-inning setback with a solo run in the bottom of the eighth.

“Offensively, I was very happy with our approach today,” said Winecke, whose team banged out 12 Game 2 hits — including two hits each from Kruse, John Swenson (Eagan, Minn.), Jack Dwyer (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Robbie Johnson (Lake Elmo, Minn.). “It was just one of those days. Give Saint John's credit, they came up with the clutch hits when they needed them.

“(Saint John's) kept battling, even when they fell behind 6-0,” added Winecke, whose team returns to action Saturday, traveling to Bethel for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader. “But so did we, we gave it everything we had right up to the final out.

“It just so unfortunate that these guys haven't been rewarded for their efforts.”