Box Score

CHANDLER, Ariz. — The Saint Mary's University baseball didn't waste any time getting its offense kicked into high gear during Monday's nine-inning rematch against Concordia University-Chicago.

The Cardinals plated two runs in their first at-bat — thanks in large part to back-to-back triples from Andrew Warren (Stillwater, Minn.) and Jon Schlemmer (DePere, Wis.) — against the Cougars, who had used a a five-run second inning en route to a 12-5 win over SMU on Sunday.

Unfortunately for coach Nick Winecke, the Cardinals' foot slipped off the accelerator after that first at-bat, as SMU managed just four hits over the final eight innings in dropping a 9-2 decision to the Cougars.

“It wasn't the end result we were looking for, but I thought we played better today than we did (Sunday) — and that's our No. 1 priority, getting better every day,” said Winecke. “We're still get getting enough quality at-bats, but that will come.”

The Cardinals raced out to their first-inning lead, as Pat Krieger (Mendota Heights, Minn.) opened with a lead-off walk, stole second and, after a groundout by Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.), Warren delivered the team's first triple of the season. Schlemmer than followed up with the first of his three hits — a mirror image of Warren's shot — to give SMU a 2-0 advantage.

It didn't last long, however, as Concordia-Chicago also took advantage of a game-opening walk to tie the game at 2-2.

The Cougars would add two more runs in the third ¬— again following a lead-off walk — then pushed their lead to 5-2 with a solo run in the sixth. Concordia-Chicago put the game out of reach in the seventh, scoring three times on four hits to push its advantage to 9-2.

Schlemmer finished with three of the Cardinals' six hits — including his first collegiate triple — while Vince Lulic (Mendota Heights, Minn.), Warren and Joe ONeil (St. Paul, Minn.) accounted for the other three.

Chris Bogie (St. Paul, Minn.) took the pitching loss, allowing four runs on five hits in four innings of work. John Henderson (Bloomington, Minn.) went 3 innings, surrendering four runs on six hits, with Justin Kronebusch allowing a run on two hits in one inning of work.

The Cardinals (0-3 overall) are back in action on Tuesday, taking on Wesleyan in a nine-inning nonconference game at 2:30 p.m.