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WI/NONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team made sure of one thing Saturday afternoon — there would be no walk-off heroics.
 
After three straight heartbreaking losses — with all three coming on walk-off hits in their opponent's final at-bat — the Cardinals raced out to a big lead and never looked back in handing Concordia a 7-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback in the opening game of their doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
 
And it was more of the same in Game 2, as the Cardinals used a seven-run fourth inning to lift them to a 9-6 victory — and a key conference sweep.
 
"It was a good day of baseball" said SMU coach Nick Winecke, who team had entered Saturday's DH on the heels of a 1-0 loss to Augsburg on Tuesday, when the Auggies scored the game's only run in the bottom of the ninth, while also surrendered two runs in the bottom of the 11th and ninth innings, respectively in two losses to Hamline on Friday. "We swung the bats pretty well, got some good pitching and played well in the field.
 
"And to take two from a team as talented as Concordia, that's huge as we start trying to position ourselves for one of those (four) MIAC Tournament spots."
 
RBI singles by Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.), Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) and Tommy Merkelis (Calumet City, Ill.) gave the Cardinals a quick 3-0 lead after their first at-bat in the opener, and Kevin Miley's (St. Paul, Minn.) two-run double in the third pushed that advantage to 5-3.
 
The Cobbers cut the lead to 5-3 with a three-run fourth, but that would be the extent of Concordia's offensive firepower.
 
Saint Mary's, meanwhile, wasn't quite finished, as the Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, and Buerkle delivered a two-run single to put the game out of reach.
 
Buerkle finished with three hits in four at-bats, scoring twice and driving in three to pace the Cardinals' 11 hit attack., while Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) added a pair of hits in four at-bats.
 
Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) picked up the pitching win, scattering seven hits, while allowing just the three fourth-inning runs, in five innings of work. Jake Merkle (Mahtomedi, Minn.) worked the final two innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit and striking out two to earn the save.
 
The Cardinals got on the board again first in the nightcap on an RBI sacrifice fly by Gannon that scored David Barry (Apple Valley), but the Cobbers responded with three runs in the top of the fourth to grab a short-lived 3-1 lead.
 
Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) and Miley opened the Cardinals' fourth with back-to-back doubles, and the Cardinals would send 10 more batters to the plate — including Schlemmer, who delivered his second double of the inning, a two-run shot to cap Saint Mary's seven-run outburst.
 
Concordia narrowed the deficit to 8-5 with a pair of runs in the sixth, but again the Cardinals would answer as Pat Krieger's (Mendota Heights, Minn.) sacrifice fly plated Gannon with their ninth run of the game in the bottom of the sixth.
 
The Cobbers scored once more in the eight, but A.J. Redders (Middleton, Wis.) shut CC down in the ninth to seal the win and record his team-leading fourth save.
 
Miley went 3-for-4, and Doll and Schlemmer each had two hits and two RBIs in SMU's 11-hit Game 2 barrage, while Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) earned the pitching win, allowing three runs on seven hits in four innings.
 
The Cardinals (9-7 MIAC, 13-21 overall) are now off until Wednesday, when they travel to Northfield, Minn., for a 2:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader against St. Olaf.