Game 1 Box |
Game 2 Box |
Photo Gallery |
GameDay Preview
WINONA, Minn. — It took the Saint Mary's University baseball team a couple of innings to get warmed up Friday afternoon at Max Molock Field, but once they did, Finlandia didn't stand a chance.
The Cardinals, who came up empty in their first two at-bats Friday, scored twice in the second, four times in the fifth and eight times in the sixth in cruising to a 14-1 Game 1 victory over the visiting Lions.
SMU's offense took its foot off the gas a bit in the second game, choosing to ride the right arm of freshman
Luke Larson (Bloomington, Minn.), who tossed a complete-game seven-hitter in lfting the Cardinals to a sweep-clinching 5-1 Game 2 win.
Andrew Warren (Stillwater, Minn.),
Chris Bogie (St. Paul, Minn.) and
Jake Lechner (Shoreview, Minn.) each had three hits to pace the Cardinals' 18-hit attack in the opener.
Warren delivered a solo home run in the second to give the Cardinals the lead for good, 2-1. SMU would then add four runs in the fourth — getting an RBI triple from
Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.), an RBI double off the bat of
Cody Pfennig (La Crosse, Wis.) and run-scoring singles from Bogie and Lechner — before putting the game out of reach with its eight-run sixth.
After surrendering a first-inning run, SMU starter
Teddy VanRanst were nearly untouchable the rest of the way scattering five hits, while walking one and striking out a season- and career-high seven in posting his first collegiate complete game.
The Cardinals gave Larson all the run support he would need in the second inning, scoring once on a double-steal and once on an RBI double by
Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.).
Finlandia cut the gap to one, 2-1, with a single run in the top of the fourth, but the Cardinals answered with an unearned run of their own in their half of the fourth, before padding their lead with two more runs in the sixth.
LaNasa accounted for three of the Cardinals' six hits in the second game, as the freshman went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, while Pfennig was 2-for-2 and scored three times.
The Cardinals — who have now won three straight in improving to 7-13 overall — return to conference play on Saturday, hosting Gustavus in a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
