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WINONA, Minn. — Heading into Sunday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Augsburg, the Saint Mary's University baseball team's hopes of earning a spot in the conference's post-season tournament were rather bleak.

Two wins over Augsburg — which boasted the third-most wins among MIAC foes heading into Sunday's games — changes the Cardinals' outlook a bit.

“We played ourselves right into the playoff chase,” said SMU coach Nick Winecke, whose team rode the arm of Teddy VanRanst (St. Paul, Minn.) to a 2-0 win over the Auggies in Game 1 at Max Molock Field, then scored the game-winning run on a ball hit by VanRanst in the bottom of the eighth to complete the sweep with a 6-5 victory. “The guys found a way to get the job done today — it's that simple. We gave (Augsburg) too many opportunities to stay in the game, but when it came down to crunch time, we came up with the plays we needed.”

The Cardinals didn't need many plays in the opener, as VanRanst did the majority of the work. The junior left-hander tossed his team-leading fourth complete game — limiting the Auggies to just two hits, while walking one and striking out four.

Just how dominating was VanRanst? He took a perfect game into the fifth, where Augsburg collected back-to-back hits — a double by Adam Carl and a single by Alec Johnson — to put runners on first and third with one out. VanRanst struck out pinch-hitter Zach Pavilsick and got Gordon Kappers to foul out to first to end the threat.

With VanRanst being his dominant self, the Cardinals got all the offense they would need off the bat of Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.), who delivered a two-run double in the bottom of the second to account for the game's only runs.

Game 2, however, was anything but a pitcher's duel.

In fact, it was more like watching a tennis back — back-and-forth, back-and-forth.

Augsburg got to SMU starter Matt Biagini (Bloomington, Minn.) for a single run in the top of the first, but the Cardinals answered right back, scoring twice in the bottom of the first for a 2-1 advantage.

SMU pushed its lead to 4-1 with a second-straight two-run inning in the second, but Augsburg put up three runs in the top of the third to knot the game at 4-4. Augsburg plated its fifth run in the fourth, and again SMU had an answer, as Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) delivered a run-scoring single to make it a 5-5 game.

The Cardinals had an opportunity to end the game in the bottom of the seventh, as Pat Krieger (Mendota Heights, Minn.) led off with a single and was pinch-ran for by Matt Feriancek (River Falls, Wis.). Feriancek promptly stole second and moved to third on a Matt Tessmer (West St. Paul, Minn.) groundout. Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) and Schlemmer were both intentionally waked to load the bases, and Auggie reliever Tanner Oakes induced a pop out to first and a fly out to right to end the threat — and send the game into extra innings.

After Tyler Krysiak (Bloomington, Minn.) held the Auggies scoreless in the top of the inning, SMU put together a seventh-inning encore — with a much more favorable outcome.

Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) led off with a single, and Wolfe followed with a bunt single of his own. LaNasa was awarded third base on a fielder interference call on an Auggie pick-off play at second, and an intentional walk to Danny Geraghty (Park Ridge, Ill.) loaded the bases again. VanRanst pinch-hit for Feriancek and laced a hard grounder to second that Lou LaChappelle could not field cleanly, and LaNasa beat the throw to the plate to score the winning run.

Schlemmer, Gannon, LaNasa, Wolfe and Krieger all had two hits for the Cardinals in Game 2 — after SMU managed just four singles in the opener. Krysiak earned the pitching win, throwing two innings of scoreless relief, allowing just one run.

“It was kind of a crazy finish,” said Winecke, whose Cardinals are now tied for fifth — one win behind Augsburg and Concorda for the third and fourth playoff spots with a week to go in the regular season. “We had our chances (in the seventh) and didn't get the job done — but we created our own breaks (in the eighth) and made the most of the opportunity.”

The Cardinals (8-8 MIAC, 19-16 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, traveling to Midway Stadium in St. Paul, Minn., for a 2:30 p.m. conference doubleheader against Hamline.