WINONA, Minn. — Sometimes it's hard to find a silver lining when your baseball team gives up 24 runs in a doubleheader.
But Saint Mary's University baseball coach
Nick Winecke certainly did Satuday afternoon, as the Cardinals bounced back from a disappointing 16-3 Game 1 loss to Augsburg, scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to erase an 8-5 Auggie advantage and earn SMU a 9-8 victory — and a split in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference split at Max Molock Field.
“I've said all season that this team never gives up, that they battle from start to finish, and that's exactly what they did today,” said Winecke. “We didn't play too well in that first game, but we came back, come some key hits when we needed them in the second game, and came away with the split.”
The Cardinals' offense couldn't seem to get out of netural in the opener, as Augsburg pitchers Krisofer Ozga and Jarron Farah limited SMU to just six hits, including two off the bat of
Andrew Warren (Stillwater, Minn.).
Augsburg, meanwhile, came out swinging, scoring in each of its first three at-bats to take a 5-2 advantage. The Auggies then put the game out of reach, erupting for seven runs in the fifth inning, before adding four more in the sixth to complete the 16-3 win.
It was more of the same early in the second game, as the two teams traded first-inning runs — SMU's coming on an RBI single by
Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.) — before Augsburg plated four in the second to grab a 5-1 advantage.
The lead, however, was short-lived, as SMU put together a four-run inning of its own in the third — highlighted by a three-run home run by
Ryan Archambault (Faribault, Minn.) — to pull even at 5-5.
Augsburg regained the upper hand with two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth, but again SMU answered back, posting its second four-run inning of the game in their half of the sixth to take the lead for good.
Swanson went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored to fuel SMU's 11-hit Game 2 attack, while Warren and
Zach Olberding (Maplewood, Minn.) each had two hits in three at-bats.
The Cardinals, who move to 3-7 in the MIAC and 10-19 overall, are back in action on Wednesday, when they play host to Saint John's in a 2:30 p.m. conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
