Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | GameDay Preview

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Saint Mary's University baseball coach Nick Winecke could not have asked for a better opening day to his team's spring trip.

The Cardinals picked up their first win with a 9-2 Game 1 victory over Northern State Sunday, then followed that up by completing their first sweep with a 5-2 Game 2 victory over the Wolves.

Add to that the fact that Pat Regan (Mound, Minn.) collected his first collegiate pitching win and Tyler Krysiak (Bloomington, Minn.) added his first collegiate save, and, all-in-all, it was a picture-perfect first day.

“It was a good way to kick off the trip,” said Winecke, whose Cardinals opened the season with a sweep for the first time since 2005, when SMU posted 3-2 and 9-4 wins over Valley City State. “We swung the bats really well, and our pitchers did a great job of throwing strikes.

“It was a total team effort and I couldn't be happier with the way we played top-to-bottom.”

Swinging the bats well was an understatement for the Cardinals in the opener, as SMU banged out 16 hits — including a 3-for-3, 2-RBI efforts from Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) and Pat Krieger (Mendota Heights, Minn.). Vince Lulic (Mendota Heights, Minn.), Matt Tessmer (West St. Paul, Minn.) and Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) all chipped in two hits, while Schlemmer also drove in a pair of runs.

After spotting Northern State a 2-0 second-inning lead, SMU scored nine unanswered runs — one in the fourth, four in the fifth, one in the sixth and three in the seventh — to ice the Game 1 win.

Teddy VanRanst (St. Paul, Minn.) picked up the pitching win, scattering four hits in five innings, with Justin Kronebusch (Altura, Minn.) hurling the final two innings with one-hit relief.

Gannon continued to swing a hot bat in the nightcap, as the sophomore went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Krieger and Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.) each added two hits and Max Ferguson (Arcadia, Wis.) drove in two runs.

Regan, making his first collegiate start, when the first four innings, allowing two hits and one run to collect the win. Sean Minder (Maplewood, Minn.) allowed one run on two hits in two innings, with Krysiak allowed one hit in a near-perfect seventh for the save.

“I tip my hat to our pitching staff today — they did a great job,” Winecke said. “If we can get pitching like that, and swing the bats the way we did, we are going to be just fine.”

The Cardinals (2-0 overall) are back in action on Monday, squaring off against Benedictine University at Springfield in a nonconference game beginning at 10:30 a.m. (CST).