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WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University baseball coach Nick Winecke has witnessed some crazy walk-off wins in his time both as a player and as a coach.
 
But none were crazier than the way Thursday's opening game of the Cardinals' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Carleton ended.
 
The Cardinals, trailing 8-5 head into their final at-bat, scoring four times — including the game-winning run on an intentional walk wild pitch — as SMU rallied for a 9-8 victory.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, there would be no late-inning magic left in their bats in the nightcap, as Carleton hung on for a 4-3 victory and a split at Max Molock Field.
 
"Today was MIAC baseball in a nutshell," said Winecke. "It was a pretty crazy way for the first game to end, but I thought we were starting to find our groove. I thought we swung the bats pretty well — especially in the first game — and we were in a position to win that second game, but hit a couple of lasers that just couldn't find a hole."
 
The Cardinals came out swinging in the opener, scoring three times in their first at-bat — including an RBI single by Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) and a run-scoring double by Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.).
 
SMU's bats cooled off, however — and Carleton's heated up — as the Knights scored at least one run in each of the next five innings to grab an 8-5 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
 
Buerkle led off SMU's seventh with a single and moved to third on Schlemmer's second double of the game. Kevin Miley (St. Paul, Minn.) scored Buerkle with a sacrifice fly, and Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) and Tommy Merkelis (Calumet City, Ill.) followed with back-to-back RBI doubles to tie the game, 8-8.
 
Alec Rolain (Appleton, Wis.) pinch ran for Merkelis at second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Carleton third baseman Cody Bohlman. With runners on second and third and one out, Knights' pitcher Jackson Tears attempted to intentionally walk Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) to load the bases, but his fourth pitch to the Cardinal sophomore sailed past catcher Hayden Tsutsui allowing Rolain to score the game-winning run.
 
Buerkle and Schlemmer each finished with three hits to pace the Cardinals' 12-hit Game 1 offensive attack, while Doll and David Barry (Apple Valley, Minn.) each chipped in a pair of hits.
 
Carleton got on the board first in the nightcap, scoring a single run in the second inning, before using a pair of home runs to plate three runs in the top of the fifth to push that advantage to 4-0.
 
One swing of the bat by Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.) in the bottom of the fifth pulled SMU back within one, as the sophomore belted his first collegiate home run — a three-run shot — to make it a 4-3 game.
 
Unfortunately, that would be the extent of the Cardinals' offensive attack, as SMU came up empty in its final four at-bats in settling for the split.
 
After banging out 12 hits in the opener, SMU was held to six in Game 2 — with six different players all collecting one hit.
 
The Cardinals (4-5 MIAC, 8-17 overall) are back in action on Saturday, as SMU hosts Macalester in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.