WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — After being held to "just" six runs in the second game of their nonconference sweep of Houghton Saturday, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team cranked up its offense again on Sunday.
 
Fueled by an eight-run fifth inning, the Cardinals pushed their winning streak to six in a row, cruising to an 11-7 win over Capital in the first of two nine-inning nonconference games.
 
The Cardinals wasted little time getting their offense on track, as Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.) belted a bases-clearing double in the top of the first inning to give Saint Mary's a quick, 3-0 advantage.
 
Capital would answer with single runs in the second and third to make it a one-run contest, but again the Cardinals' high-powered offense struck in the fifth, plating eight runs to put the game out of reach.
 
Capital made things interesting, scoring five unanswered runs—one in the fifth and four in the seventh—it wasn't enough to derail the Cardinals, who have not lost since opening the season with a 7-1 setback against Augustana.
 
Lursen, Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.), Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.), and Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) all had two hits for the Cardinals, while Lursen drove in a pair of runs. Ironically, while Lursen was busy driving in four of the team's 11 runs, the senior was the only Cardinal starter not to score at least once—including two runs scored from Seegers, Buerkle, and Kinne.
 
Jacob Dawson (Oakdale, Minn.) picked up the pitching win, going the first six innings, allowing three runs—two earned—on seven hits, while walking two and striking out four. Brian Powers (Berwyn, Ill.) surrendered four runs—only one of which was earned—on four hits in two innings of relief, with A.J. Redders (Middleton, Wis.) throwing a scoreless ninth.
 
The Cardinals (6-1 overall) are right back on the field Sunday afternoon, squaring off against Franklin in a nine-inning nonconference contest.