WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team ended its 10-game spring trip the way it began—with an offensive explosion.
The Cardinals—who kicked off their stay in Florida by scoring 20 runs in an 11-0, 9-2 sweep of Milwaukee School of Engineering last Sunday—closed things out in the sunshine state in much the same fashion, erupting for another 20 runs in sweeping Gordon 12-3 and 8-4.
The Cardinals used a pair of big innings to pull away in the first game, scoring four runs in the second and five more in the fifth. Saint Mary's banged out 12 hits—including six for extra bases—against three Fighting Scots pitchers.
Kevin Miley (St. Paul, Minn.),
Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.), and
Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) all recorded two hits for the Cardinals in the opener—with Miley belting a pair of doubles, while Lursen launched one of Saint Mary's two home runs.
Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) hit the Cardinals' other round-tripper, a two-run shot in the second inning.
Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) earned his first pitching win of the season, surrendering three runs—two earned—on seven hits in six innings.
Jake Merkle worked a perfect seventh to seal the win.
The Cardinals needed a little late-game heroics in the second game, rallying from a 4-3 deficit with two runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth to complete the sweep—and an 8-2 showing in its 10-game spring trip.
Doll collected his second straight two-hit game against the Fighting Scots, while Buerkle and
Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) also finished with a pair of Game 2 hits.
Ryan Feit (Westchester, Ill.) improved to 2-0 on the season, pitching four innings of three-hit shutout ball in relief of starter
A.J. Redders (Middleton, Wis.). Feit did not walk and batter and had one strikeout.
The Cardinals (8-2 overall) head to Wheaton, Ill., on March 20-21, for three nonconference games. Saint Mary's will face Buena Vista (11 a.m.) and Wheaton (5 p.m.) on March 20, before squaring off against Aurora on March 21 at 11 a.m.
