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ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team kept its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference post-season hopes alive Wednesday afternoon, as the Cardinals rebounded from a 4-3 Game 1 setback to beat Hamline 6-5 in the nightcap at Midway Stadium.

With the split, the Cardinals moved to 9-9 in conference play, leaving them tied with Augsburg and Concordia for the fourth and final MIAC Tournament berth with two games to play. It could be a four-way tie if Bethel (9-8 MIAC), which beat Carleton 4-3 in 13 innings in their opener Wednesday, falls to the Knights in Game 2.

SMU closes out its regular season against Carleton on Sunday, while Bethel squares off against Concordia on Saturday and Augsburg meets second-place Saint John's on Sunday.

The Cardinals got on the board first in the opener, scoring twice in the third inning. Pat Krieger (Mendota Heights, Minn.) led off with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error by Hamline pitcher Casey Benford. Kevin Gannon followed with a single, advanced to third on a single by Matt Tessmer and scored on a Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.) RBI groundout.

Hamline cut the gap to 2-1 with an RBI infield single in the fourth, then knotted the game with another run in the fifth. The deadlock did not last long, however, as Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) laced a two-out, run-scoring double, scoring Vince Lulic (Mendota Heights, Minn.) from first.

The Pipers took their first — and only — lead of the game in the bottom of the sixth, taking advantage of a lead-off walk, a sacrifice and back-to-back RBI singles to grab a 4-3 advantage. Two more walks — the first one intentional and the second unintentional — loaded the bases, but SMU's Tyler Krysiak (Bloomington, Minn.) came on to get the Pipers' Andy King to pop out to Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) at third to end the threat.

There would be no late-game SMU heroics, however, as HU reliever Brett Bugielski surrendered a two-out walk to pinch-hitter Andy Edholm (Hudson, Wis.), but got Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) to strike out swinging to end the threat.

Gannon extended his hitting streak to 11 straight in Game 1, going 2-for-3 to pace SMU's seven-hit Game 1 offensive attack. It was the seventh multiple-hit game during the sophomore's 11-game hit streak. SMU's other five hits came from five different players.

For the second game in a row, the Cardinals waited until the third inning to get their offense on track, this time scoring five runs in the top of the third — three on a bases-clearing, three-run triple by Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) — to take a 5-1 advantage.

Hamline responded with two runs in the bottom of the third, cutting SMU's lead to 5-3, but SMU pushed its lead to four, 6-2, on an RBI single by Mike Feriancek (River Falls, Wis.). The Pipers made things interesting in the sixth, scoring twice in the sixth to make it a one-run game, 6-5, but Krysiak pitched a 1-2-3 seventh — inducing seven fly outs — to preserve the win.

Feriancek went 3-for-4, and Schlemmer and Danny Geraghty (Park Ridge, Ill.) each added a pair of hits for the Cardinals, while Justin Kronebusch (Altura, Minn.) picked up his fourth pitching win of the season, allowing five runs on nine hits. Krysiak recorded his fifth save with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless, hitless relief.

The Cardinals (20-17 overall) host Carleton on Senior Day on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Max Molock Field.