WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — It was the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat—only in reverse—for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team in its nonconference doubleheader against Loras Thursday afternoon.
The agony of defeat—surrendering a game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh inning and the game-winning run on a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth as Loras won the opener 6-5.
The thrill of victory—riding the right arm of
Jacob Dawson (Oakdale, Minn.) to a 1-0 victory in the nightcap.
"Jacob tossed an absolute gem—by far the highlight of the day for us," said Saint Mary's coach
Nick Winecke of his junior hurler, who was making his second appearance of the season—and has now thrown 12 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just a combined six hits. "We did not swing the bats very well—not just getting hits, but our overall at-bats just weren't very good.
"But we played great defense and got a great Game 2 pitching performance, and that was definitely good to see."
The Cardinals erupted for three runs in the top of the first inning in the opener—highlighted by a two-run double by
Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.), but the Duhawks answered with two runs of their own in their first at-bat to cut the Saint Mary's lead to 3-2.
Saint Mary's added an unearned run in the fourth—only to have the Duhawks answer with two runs in their half of the fourth to knot the game at 4-4. The Cardinals regained the lead with yet another unearned run in the seventh, and—again—Loras matched that output with a run of its own in the bottom of the seventh on Adam Kennedy's solo home run.
Loras would plate the game-winning run in the ninth, loading the bases with two out, before Anthony Flattery laced an
Austin Jacobs (Cannon Falls, Minn.) offering to right field, scoring the game-winning run from third.
Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) was the only Cardinal with more than one hit, going 2-for-3, while Schlemmer,
David Barry (Apple Valley, Minn.),
Kevin Miley (St. Paul, Minn.),
Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.), and
Jacob Frost (Moline, Ill.) accounted for Saint Mary's other five hits.
The Cardinals managed just two hits in the nightcap, but with Dawson on the mound, those two hits—and a sixth-inning unearned run—were more than enough.
Dawson (2-0) scattered three hits—one in the first, one in the fourth and one in the fifth—walked three and struck out a career-high seven in recording his first complete game in a Cardinal uniform.
The Cardinals scored the game's only run in the sixth, as Buerkle led off with a single, was sacrificed to second and scored on a Loras throwing error.
Buerkle and Schlemmer accounted for the two hits for the Cardinals, who close out their 10-game spring trip on Friday, squaring off against Gordon in a pair of nonconference games beginning at 9 a.m. (EST).
