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NORTHFIELD, Minn. — After going through an entire game in which the Saint Mary's University baseball team couldn't buy a run, runs came in bunches in the second game Wednesday, as the Cardinals rounded from 1-0 loss in the opener to beat Carleton 11-6 and earn a split in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader.

“It was good to see us bounce back and get that win in the second game,” said SMU coach Nick Winecke. “We actually played well in both games — we just didn't get the key hits when we needed them in the first game. We had our chances (in the opener), we just couldn't get that clutch hit.”

Walks have proven to be the Cardinals' Achilles' heel all season, and a seemingly harmless late-inning walk haunted SMU again in the opener against the Knights.

The Cardinals surrendered a lead-off walk in the bottom of the sixth inning of their opener against Carleton, and that free pass — the only one allowed by SMU starter Andrew Ruf (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) — proved to be the difference, as a two-out single by David Ames scored Alex Wirta from second to lift the Knights to the 1-0 victory.

“Give (Ames) credit, the pitch he hit to score the game-winner run was actually a great pitch by Andrew — (Ames) just went out and got it,” Winecke said. “Andrew pitched a great first game, we just didn't give him any offensive support.”

Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.) led the Cardinals' six-hit attack in the opener, going 2-for-3, while Ruf was the tough-luck loser on the mound, allowing six hits and one earned run, while striking out two and walking one in the complete-game effort.

Carleton starter Ted Harmon extended SMU's scoreless streak to 10 straight innings, keeping the Cardinals off the board through the first three innings of the nightcap.

Then came the fourth — and what a fourth for the Cardinals.

SMU sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring seven times — two coming on a two-run single by Daniel Geraghty (Chicago, Ill) and two more on a two-run triple by Jake Lechner (Shoreview, Minn.) — to take a 7-1 advantage.

The Knights cut the gap to 7-4 with three runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth, and, after the two teams traded fifth-inning runs, SMU put the game out of reach with a three-run sixth.

Geraghty, Swanson, Luke Larson (Bloomington, Minn.) and Chris Bogie (St. Paul, Minn.) all collected two hits in the second game, as SMU hammered five Carleton pitchers for 12 hits. Geraghty also finished with three RBIs, with Larson and Lechner each driving in two.

Matt Biagini (Maplewood, Minn.) picked up his first collegiate pitching win, allowing just three hits in four innings. John Henderson (Bloomington, Minn.) worked a scoreless fifth, while David Timmons (Rochester, Minn.) threw the final two innings.

“We needed that second win,” Winecke said. “It was good to see us get our bats going (in the second game). Hopefully we can carry that over to Friday (against Finlandia).”

The Cardinals (1-3 MIAC, 5-13 overall) are back in action on Friday, hosting Finlandia in a 2:30 p.m. nonconference doubleheader, before returning to conference play with a twinbill at Max Molock Field on Saturday against Gustavus.