Concordia-WI Box | Rockford Box

CHANDLER, Ariz. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team posted season-highs of seven runs and 13 hits in dropping a heartbreaking, 8-7, extra-inning contest to Presentation Thursday afternoon — and the Cardinal offense picked right where it left off on Friday against Concordia-Wisconsin.

With much better results.

The Cardinals battered eight Concordia pitchers to the tune of 18 runs and 23 hits — including 13 runs on 16 hits in the first four innings — en route to an 18-5 nonconference victory.

SMU's offense remained in high gear in its second game of the afternoon against Rockford,, cruising to an 8-2 lead through 5 ½ innings.

Then came the Regents' sixth — when disaster struck.

Rockford sent 13 batters to the plate in its half of the sixth, scoring eight times to take a 10-8 lead, a lead they would never relinquish in handing the Cardinals a 15-10 setback.

“Talk about a day filled with highs and lows,” said SMU coach Nick Winecke. “I was really happy with the way we swung the bats — to score 28 runs in two games, that's definitely a positive.

“Unfortunately, 10 runs just wasn't enough in that second game,” Winecke added. “That sixth inning just snowballed on us — Rockford hit the ball, but we also helped them out with three walks in the inning and we didn't make plays defensively.”

In the opener against the Bluejays, the Cardinals wasted no time getting on the board, scoring four runs in each of the first two innings, before sending 10 batters to the plate in a five-run fourth to push their lead to 13-4. SMU put together its third four-run inning of the contest in the fifth, and adding a solo run in the bottom of the eighth to close out the scoring.

Every Cardinal starter had at least one hit, while 14 of the 16 position players who saw action reached base safely. Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.) and Jon Schlemmer (DePere, Wis.) each had three hits, while Andrew Warren (Stillwater, Minn.), Cody Pfennig (La Crosse, Wis.), Vince Lulic (Mendota Heights, Minn.), Luke Larson (Bloomington, Minn.) and Andy Edholm (Hudson, Wis.) all had two hits. Schlemmer delivered his first collegiate home run — a three-run shot in the fifth — and finished with four RBIs, while Warren also posted his first four-RBI game of the season, driving in three with a bases-loaded, second-inning double, then adding a run-scoring single in the fourth.

While the Cardinals were feasting on Bluejay pitching, Andrew Ruf (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) and a pair of SMU relievers limited Concordia to just 10 hits — including 11 singles. Ruf went the first six innings for his first win of the year, allowing four runs on 11 hits, while striking out two and walking one. Justin Kronebusch (Altura, Minn.) pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth, while Sam Levisen (Rochester, Minn.) hurled a one-two-three ninth.

The Cardinals didn't miss a beat to begin against Rockford, scoring once in the first, three times in the second — highlighted by Lulic's two-run double, his second in as many at-bats — and four times in the sixth.

SMU starter Teddy VanRanst (St. Paul, Minn.) kept the Regents off the board for the first five innings, but back-to-back singles, and two straight walks made it an 8-3 game and chased the Cardinal left-hander. Rockford's Jim Bucey greeted Kronebusch with a two-run double — and the flood gats opened, as the first eight Regent batters scored in fueling the eight-run inning.

Rockford would bat around again in the eighth, scoring five times, while Warren drove in SMU's last two runs in the top of the ninth with a double — his third hit in five at-bats.

Warren, Lulic and Larson each had three hits for the Cardinals, while Warren also drove in three runs.

“I certainly can't fault our effort,” said Winecke, whose team closes out its spring trip with a nine-inning game against Marian Saturday morning. “We battled from start to finish.”