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Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Athletics

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF SAINT MARY'S UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CARDINAL ATHLETICS
Joe LaNasa, Special to SMU SID

Baseball

SMU feasts on Saints' pitching in sweep

Donny Nadeau, SMU SID | dnadeau@smumn.edu


Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  | GameDay Preview

TUCSON, Ariz. — Just a day after managing three runs in 18 innings in their first two games of their 10-game spring trip, the Saint Mary's University baseball team found its groove Tuesday.

The Cardinals opened their nonconference doubleheader with back-to-back doubles and by the time the dust finally settled, SMU had posted 30 runs en route to an 11-1, 19-6 sweep of Presentation at Kino Sports Complex.

“It was good to see the guys bounce back the way they did — it wasn't that we hit that poorly (on Monday), we just didn't get the big hits when we needed them,” said SMU coach Nick Winecke. “Today, we got a lot of hits — and a lot of big hits.”

Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) and Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) belted back-to-back doubles to kick off the Cardinals' first at-bat, and a Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) sacrifice fly made it 2-0 after one inning.

SMU pushed its lead to 5-0 with a three-run fourth inning, highlighted by Zach Wolfe's (Wabasha, Minn.) two-run triple. An RBI single by Vince Lulic (Mendota Heights, Minn.) made it 6-0 after five, and four straight hits — including doubles by Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) and Lulic — ignited a five-run sixth inning to seal SMU's Game 1 win

While the Cardinals' bats were feasting on Saints' pitching, SMU starter Matt Biagini (Bloomington, Minn.) was in mid-season form, as the junior right-handed limited Presentation to just three hits, while striking out six and walking three in his first start of the season.

The Cardinals posted their second straight two-run first inning in the nightcap, but they were just getting warmed up, as SMU sent nine or more batters to the plate in three of the seventh innings — and scored in every inning but the fifth and the seventh.

SMU would plate the game's first 10 runs, before Presentation got on the board with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. The Cardinals scored four more runs in the fourth, then tallied their second five-run inning of the contest in the sixth in coasting to the lopsided win.

The Cardinals banged out 19 hits — with 13 of the 18 players to make a plate appearance getting at least one hit — while also taking advantage of 10 walks.

Taylor Thelemann (Bloomington, Minn.) went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, while LaNasa, David Berry (Apple Valley, Minn.), Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) and Kevin Miley (St. Paul, Minn.) all added two hits. Schlemmer and Barry each collected three RBIs, while Miley added two.

Jacob Dawson (North St. Paul, Minn.) went the first 3.1 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, before giving way to Jake Merkle (Mahtomedi, Minn.). Merkle threw 1.2 innings of two-hit, scoreless relief to pick up the win, with Pat Regan (Mound, Minn.) throwing the final two innings, allowing one run on two hits.

The Cardinals (2-2 overall) are back in action Wednesday, squaring off against Iowa Wesleyan and Simpson in a pair of nine-inning games.
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