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CAROL STREAM, Ill. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team — haunted by the big inning in back-to-back losses to Edgewood and Wheaton (Ill.) Friday — turned the tables on Saturday, using a three-run first and two-run second to propel the Cardinals to a 6-4 nonconference win over Edgewood at Lee Pfund Stadium.

The Cardinals — who scored three runs in each of their final two at-bats against Wheaton a day earlier — picked up right where they left off against the Eagles, scoring three times in the first inning, with Kevin Miley (St. Paul, Minn.) highlighting the offensive burst with a bases-loaded double.

Edgewood answered with three runs of its own in the bottom of the first, but the Cardinals' offense was just getting warmed up, as SMU plated two runs in the second on a Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) RBI single and a Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) run-scoring double, and added another in the third on a sacrifice fly by Taylor Thelemann (Bloomington, Minn.).

Both teams threatened in the eighth — but only Edgewood would capitalize.

SMU put runners on second and third with one out in the top of the eighth, but back-to-back fly outs kept the Cardinals' lead at three, 6-3. Edgewood, meanwhile, greeted SMU reliever Pat Regan (Mound, Minn.) by putting runners on first and second with no one out. Regan induced a pair of fly ball outs, but Brad Clark delivered a run-scoring single to cut the SMU lead to 6-4 heading into the ninth.

A.J. Redders (Middleton, Wis.), who got the final out of the eighth, pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his second save of the season.

Jake Merkle (Bloomington, Minn.) went the first seven innings for the Cardinals on the mound, allowing just four hits — three of which came in the Eagles' three-run first inning — while walking one and striking out four.

Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) and Tommy Merkelis (Calumet City, Ill.) each had two hits to pace the Cardinals' nine-hit offensive attack, while Miley drove in two of the team's six runs. Along with his 2-for-4 performance, Doll also stole three bases.

The Cardinals (4-9), who snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory, are right back in action at 2 p.m. Saturday, squaring off against host Wheaton (Ill.) in a nine-inning nonconference contest.