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MENOMONIE, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team matched UW-Stout run-for-run — with both teams scoring 13 times in their nonconference doubleheader Tuesday afternoon.

Nine of the Cardinals' 13 runs, however, came in Game 2, as SMU — which dropped the opener 9-4 — rebounded with a 9-4 victory of its own that snapped a five-game losing streak and earned the Cardinals a nonconference split.

“I was really happy to see us bounce back the way we did,” said SMU coach Nick Winecke. “The difference in the two games, plain-and-simple, was timely hitting — we couldn't get a hit with a runner on base to save our lives, and in the second game, we came through with big hits every time we needed it.”

The Cardinals got on the board first in Game 1, getting an RBI single from Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) in SMU's first at-bat.

By the time Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) scored SMU's second run on a passed ball in the top of the third, however, the Blue Devils had already plated five runs — including a four-run second inning that included a bases-clearing three-run double by Santiago Morales — to grab a commanding 5-2 advantage.

The Blue Devils would make it 6-2 with a single run in the fourth, and, after the Cardinals' Andy Edholm (Hudson, Wis.) laced an RBI single in the fifth to cut the gap to 6-3, UW-Stout answered with two in the bottom of the fifth to push the lead back to five, 8-3, with both teams scoring once more over the final two innings.

Mike Feriancek (River Falls, Wis.) went 3-for-4 with a run score, while Lulic was 2-for-4 for the Cardinals, who finished with nine hits in the opener.

For the second game in a row, SMU got on the board first in Game 2, as the Cardinals scored twice without getting a hit that left the infield. Vince Lulic drove in LaNasa from third with an infield single deep in the hole between third and short, and a second infield single to short by Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) scored Feriancek to push SMU's lead to 2-0.

SMU made it 4-0 in the fourth, scoring once on a wild pitch and the other on a Lulic single to left. Five more runs in the fifth — highlighted by a two-run single by LaNasa and a two-run double from Feriancek — and the Cardinals' advantage ballooned to 9-0.

The Blue Devils chased SMU starter Justin Kronebusch (Altura, Minn.) in the bottom of the sixth, as they loaded the bases to open the inning, and a hit batsman plated UW-Stout's first run, and sent Kronebusch to the showers. A sacrifice fly made 9-2, but relief pitcher Matt Biagini (Bloomington, Minn.) got the next to batters to fly out to end the threat.

UW-Stout scored twice more in the bottom of the seventh, but it was too little, too late, as the Cardinals hung on for the split.

Lulic led the Cardinals' 10-hit Game 2 offensive onslaught, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs, while Gannon and LaNasa each chipped in two hits, with LaNasa also driving in a pair of runs. Kronebusch picked up the pitching win, allowing two runs on three hits in five complete innings.

“Justin pitched a great second game for us — and we needed that,” said Winecke. “He ran out of gas a bit in the sixth inning, but he threw up zeroes all the way to the sixth — you can't ask much more from him.”

The Cardinals (9-10 overall) are back in action on Thursday, traveling to La Crosse, Wis., for a 2:30 p.m. nonconference doubleheader against Viterbo.