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WINONA, Minn. — Three was the magic number for the Saint Mary's University baseball team in the opening game of its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Macalester Saturday at Max Molock Field.
 
Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) drove in three runs, Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) scored three times, the Cardinals boasted three, three-run innings — and held the high-scoring Scots to just three runs — as SMU kicked off its conference twinbill with a convincing 13-3 victory.
 
And it was more of the same in Game 2, as Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) and Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.) each had three hits — all three of Lursen's going for doubles — David Barry (Apple Valley, Minn.) drove in three runs and Schlemmer scored three runs as the Cardinals completed the sweep with a 10-5 victory.
 
The Cardinals didn't waste any time recording their first three-run inning, scoring three times in the first — including RBI singles by Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) and Kevin Miley (St. Paul, Minn.).
 
The Scots answered with three runs, just one earned, off SMU starter Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) in the top of the second — but Johnson would own the Scots the rest of the way, scattering seven hits en route to the complete-game win.
 
And while Johnson was mowing down the Scots from the third inning on, the Cardinals' bats were just heating up.
 
SMU strung together four runs en route to two runs in the second, before adding three-run inning No. 2 in the third — highlighted by Willie Doll's (Amherst, Wis.) two-run double and an RBI single by Barry.
 
After a scoreless fourth, SMU added three more runs in the fifth — two on a Gannon single — before closing out the scoring with a two-run sixth.
 
SMU was in complete control in Game 2, scoring a single run in the second and five more in the third to grab a commanding 6-0 advantage. Miley drove in two of SMU's five third-inning runs with a single, while Lursen's first double plated another.
 
Macalester got one run back in the fifth but SMU answered with two runs in its half of the fifth to push its advantage to 8-1. The Scots scored three times in the seventh and once in the ninth, while the Cardinals plated single runs in the seventh and eighth to round out the scoring.
 
Along with the three hits from both Schlemmer and Lursen, the Cardinals also got two hits from Buerkle, while Jake Merkle (Mahtomedi, Minn.) earned the pitching win, going six innings — allowing one run in five hits, while striking out four.
 
The Cardinals (6-5 MIAC, 10-17 overall) step out of conference play in Monday, traveling to Decorah, Iowa, for a nonconference contest against Luther.