Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  | GameDay Preview

MOORHEAD, Minn. — There was good news, and there was bad news for the Saint Mary's University baseball team Thursday afternoon.

First, the bad news: Concordia used a pair of big innings — a six-run third inning in the first game, and a three-run fourth inning in the nightcap — as the Cobbers swept the Cardinals, 10-5 and 5-4, in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference finale.

Now, the good news: Despite the two losses, the Cardinals are headed to the MIAC Tournament for the second straight year.

The Cardinals, who could have earned the No. 2 spot in the six-team tournament field with a sweep of the Cobbers — or a split and an Augsburg split against St. Olaf Thursday — enter Friday's opening round as the No. 6 seed and will square off against No. 3 Augsburg at 7 p.m. at Veterans Field in Minnetonka, Minn.

With the sweep — and Augsburg's split against St. Olaf Thursday — the Cobbers locked up the No. 2 seed, while Friday's tournament-opening game will pit No. 4 Bethel against No. 5 Saint John's at 3 p.m.

The Cobbers struck first in the second inning of opener, parlaying four hits — including an RBI triple by Cody Rahman — and an SMU error into three runs for a quick 3-0 advantage.

An advantage that quickly ballooned to 9-0 an inning later, as Concordia erupted for six third-inning runs — two coming on Michael Olson's triple and three more on Tim Carlson's first collegiate home run.

The Cardinals begin whittling away at the Cobbers' nine-run lead in the fifth, as Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) launched his third home run of the season — a two-run shot — to cut the deficit to 9-2.

Concordia got a run back in bottom of the fifth, but SMU continued to claw its way back, scoring three times in the sixth — highlighted by Willie Doll's (Amherst, Wis.) team-leading fourth home run — but it was too little, too late, as the Cobbers held on for the 10-5 victory.

Mike Feriancek (River Falls, Wis.) went 3-for-3, while Wolfe was 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBIs to pace SMU's 11-hit offensive attack. Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) and David Barry (Apple Valley, Minn.) also had two hits for the Cardinals, while Doll and Vince Lulic (Mendota Heights, Minn.) accounted for SMU's other two hits.

The Cardinals got on the board first in the second game, as Matt Tessmer (West St. Paul, Minn.) delivered a two-out, RBI single, scoring Wolfe, who had coaxed a one-out walk.

The Cobbers pulled even with a single run in the fourth, before Devin Johnson gave CC the lead for good, blasting a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth for a 4-1 Concordia advantage.

SMU loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, and — after CC reliever Bryce Feia got Drew Denning (St. Paul, Minn.) to strike out looking — Barry clubbed a bases-clearing double to get the Cardinals within one, 5-4.

Barry, however, was stranded at second as Feia recorded his second strikeout of the inning to seal the sweep-clinching win.

Barry and Miley each collected three Game 2 hits — Miley going 3-for-3, while Barry was 3-for-4 with three RBIs — while Gannon recorded his second straight two-hit game.