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ST. PAUL, Minn. — If there's one thing the Saint Mary's University baseball team has proven this year, it's that the Cardinals are resilient.

You can get them down — but you can never count them out.

For the second time in as many Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheaders, the Cardinals dropped the opening game Tuesday, as Macalester broke open a close game with four runs in the sixth inning in knocking down SMU 9-3.

And, for the second straight day, the Cardinals got back on their feet, dusted themselves off and answered the bell for round two, scoring three times in the second and twice more in the fifth in beating the Scots 5-1 to earn the split.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 1-0 lead after their first at-bat in the opener, as Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) delivered an RBI single — one of three hits in four at-bats for the Cardinal sophomore.

Macalester responded with two runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead, but the Cardinals threatened to break things open, loading the bases with one out in the third. Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) was hit by a pitch to drive in one run — and tie the game at 2-2 — but the Scots escaped without further damage, as Vince Lulic (Mendota Heights, Minn.) flew out to shallow center and Schlemmer was forced out at second on a ground ball by Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.).

The Scots again regained the lead in the fourth, scoring three times off SMU starter Sean Minder. The Cardinals cut the gap to 5-3, recording their third one-run inning of the opener in the fifth, as Schlemmer delivered an RBI single, scoring Gannon — who had opened the inning with a double.

That, however, would be the extent of SMU's offense, and the Scots seemed to just be heating up — belting a triple and two home runs in their four-run sixth to put the game out of reach.

With his 3-for-4 performance, Gannon accounted for half of SMU's hits in Game 1, while Schlemmer, Pat Krieger (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) delivered the other three.

The Cardinals again got on the boar first in the nightcap, as SMU took advantage of two Macalester errors to jump out to a 3-0 lead after the second inning, and — thanks to a two-out, two-run double by Danny Geraghty (Park Ridge, Ill.) in the fifth — the Cardinals pushed their lead to 5-1 after five innings.

And five runs was more than enough for SMU starter Justin Kronebusch (Altura, Minn.), who allowed one run, while scattering seven hits, in six innings. Reliever Tyler Krysiak (Bloomington, Minn.) iced the win with a scoreless seventh.
Gannon followed up his Game 1 effort by going 2-for-2 in the nightcap, while LaNasa chipped in a pair of hits and Geraghty drove in three of the team's five runs.

The Cardinals (6-8 MIAC, 17-16 overall) are back in action on Saturday, hosting Augsburg in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.