Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  | GameDay Preview

LA CROSSE, Wis. — Saint Mary's University baseball coach Nick Winecke had just four words to say after Wednesday's Game 1 victory over Viterbo — “Better late than never.”

The Cardinals scored six runs in the top of the seventh, four coming on Jon Schlemmer's (De Pere, Wis.) grand slam home run — his second round-tripper of the game — as they collected a 13-7 win in the opener of their nonconference doubleheader against the V-Hawks.

There was no need for any late-game heroics in the nightcap, as SMU recorded their second straight six-run inning — scoring six times in the first inning in cruising to a sweep-clinching 8-3 victory.

“We swung the bats pretty well today,” said SMU coach Nick Winecke. “We let (Viterbo) back in the first game — but Jon came through with a big grand slam in the seventh inning.

“Overall, I was pleased with the way we played.”

It's hard to not be happy with their performance, when the Cardinals banged out 25 hits while scoring 21 runs.

Schlemmer swung the heavy stick in the opener, as the sophomore went 4-for-5 — including his first two home runs of the season — and drove in five, while Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) was 3-for-3 and Danny Geraghty (Park Ridge, Ill.) went 2-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBIs.

SMU scored 11 of their 13 Game 1 runs in two innings, scoring five times in the second, twice in the third and six times in the seventh. The V-Hawks used a five-run inning of their own in the fourth to tie the game at 7-7 and set up SMU's — and Schlemmer's — seventh-inning heroics.

The Cardinals scored their six runs in the first inning of Game 2 on just two hits, while taking advantage of two Viterbo errors. The V-Hawks got one run back in the third, with both teams trading two-run sixth innings to round out the scoring.

Geraghty went 3-for-3, while Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.), Kyle Servais (Coon Valley, Minn.) and Matt Feriancek (River Falls, Wis.) all chipped in two hits.

Sean Minder (Maplewood, Minn.) picked up his first win as a Cardinal, going the first six innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits, while walking one and striking out one.

The Cardinals (11-10) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, traveling to St. Thomas for a 1 p.m. doubleheader against the seventh-ranked Tommies.