Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  | GameDay Preview

ST. PAUL, Minn. — As if playing the seventh-ranked team in the country wasn't tough enough for the Saint Mary's University baseball team, the Cardinals had to try and solve the league-leading and nationally ranked Tommies in icy temperatures that included 25-mph winds.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried, it was a combination the Cardinals just could not unlock.

St. Thomas pitcher Bryce Gapinski outdueled SMU's Teddy VanRanst (St. Paul, Minn.) in the opener, as the Tommie right-hander limited the Cardinals to just four hits — while retiring the last 11 batters he faced — in a 3-0 UST victory.

And in the nightcap the Tommies used a two-run fourth inning to rally from a 3-2 deficit and hand SMU a 4-3 setback Monday.

“The weather was miserable — it made it very tough on both teams,” said SMU coach Nick Winecke. “It certainly wasn't baseball weather out there today, but that's no excuse, it was the same for (St. Thomas).

“Overall, I thought we played well — we got two good pitching performances and definitely had our share of opportunities,” added Winecke, whose Cardinals had a runner thrown out at third base and stranded four runners in scoring position in the first four innings of Game 1. “Give (St. Thomas) credit, they had two big hits with two outs — one in each game — and that was the difference.”

Mike Feriancek (River Falls, Wis.), Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.), Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) and Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) collected the Cardinals' four hits in the opener, but after Swanson and Schlemmer put together back-to-back one-out singles in the fourth, Gapinski held SMU hitless the rest of the way.

VanRanst was equally as stingy on the mound for SMU, scattering seven hits in recording his team-leading second complete game in as many starts. The Tommies got to the Cardinal left-hander for one run in the third and two more in the fourth to account for their three runs.

Matt Biagini (Bloomington, Minn.) was the Cardinals' tough-luck loser in the nightcap, as the sophomore surrendered four runs on six hits in going the distance for his first collegiate complete game.

Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) swung the hot bat for the Cardinals in the second game, going 3-for-3 with an RBI single in SMU's two-run first inning. Feriancek, LaNasa, Matt Tessmer (West St. Paul, Minn.) and Vince Lulic (Mendota Heights, Minn.) picked up SMU's other four hits against three different UST pitchers, with Tessmer and Lulic collecting the Cardinals' other two RBIs.

SMU jumped out to a 2-0 lead after their first at-bat, and led 3-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth, where St. Thomas' Justin Novak delivered a two-out, two-run single to give the Tommies the lead for good.

The Cardinals (0-4 MIAC, 11-12 overall) are right back in action on Tuesday, returning home to host Concordia in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.