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PHOENIX, Ariz. — For Saint Mary's University baseball coach Nick Winecke, Monday's nonconference doubleheader against Benedictine University at Springfield was like night and day.

Game 1 was night, and Game 2 was day.

The Cardinals could seem to do no right in their opener against the Bulldogs, as SMU committed more errors (4) than they had hits (3). And, as Winecke put it, “that's recipe for disaster,” as Benedictine-Springfield took advantage of SMU's defensive lapses, handing the Cardinals their first loss of the season, 15-2.

SMU showed its resiliency in Game 2, however, bouncing back from that disastrous Game 1 to drop Benedict 4-2 and earn the nonconference split.

“That first game was not very pretty,” admitted Winecke, whose team had opened its 2012 season with a 9-2, 5-2 sweep of NCAA Division II Northern State. “But more importantly, I was very pleased at how we bounced back in the second game. It was like night and day out there today — we couldn't seem to do anything right in the opener, but came back and got the job done in the second game.

“I don't want to go through another game like (the first game), but I certainly liked what I saw in the second.”

Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.), David Barry (Apple Valley, Minn.) and Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) accounted for SMU's three hits in the opener, with Wolfe's hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the second — his first collegiate round-tripper.

Danny Geraghty (Chicago, Ill.) fueled the Cardinals' 10-hit offensive attack in Game 2, going 3-for-4, while SMU's other seven hits came from seven different players. Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.) drove in two of SMU's four runs, belting a two-run, fifth-inning double.

Jake Merkle (Mahtomedi, Minn.) became the second freshman pitcher in two days to earn his first collegiate win for the Cardinals, allowing two runs on four hits, while striking out three in five innings. Tyler Krysiak (Bloomington, Minn.) picked up his second save in as many days with two innings of two-hit ball.

The Cardinals (3-1 overall) are right back in action on Tuesday, taking on Concordia-Chicago in a nine-inning nonconference game in Phoenix, Ariz.