WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — The Saint  Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team headed into its final two games of its 10-game spring trip Monday afternoon against Mount Union riding a seven-game winning streak.
 
And thanks to a 6-3 win over the Raiders in Game 1, the Cardinals pushed that win streak to eight.
 
Unfortunately for coach Nick Winecke, the 10^th and final game of their week-long spring trip ended the same way the trip began—with a loss.
 
The Cardinals' high-powered offense, which racked up 72 runs in its first nine games, ran out of gas in the nightcap against the Raiders, managing just a single run in falling to Mount Union 5-1.
 
"It was a good trip—we did a lot of good things, and we've got a lot of things we need to work on," said coach Nick Winecke. "The season is a process, and this trip was just one step in that process. I was happy with the way we battled in every at-bat throughout the week.
 
"Our pitching was good, and we played solid in the field, so all-in-all, it was a very productive 10 games."
 
Mount Union jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs off Cardinal starter Jacob Dawson (Oakdale, Minn.) in the opener, but Saint Mary's answered in the third, getting a two-run triple from Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) and an RBI single by Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.) to take a 3-2 advantage.
 
Dawson & Co. maintained that one-run lead until the sixth, when the Raiders knotted the game at 3-3 with a sacrifice fly.
 
The game did not remain deadlocked for long, however, as the Cardinals put up three runs in the bottom of the sixth—getting a lead-off double from Kinne, a walk to Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.), and a one-out, three-run home run from Jake Berry (Tinley Park, Ill.) to give Saint Mary's a commanding 6-3 lead.
 
And with Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn.) on in relief, three runs was more than enough, as the Cardinal sophomore—who entered the game with a 0.00 ERA and a 2-0 record in 7 1/3 innings of work—shut the down on the Raiders in the seventh, setting Mount Union down in order for his first save of the season.
 
The Cardinals finished Game 1 with six hits—from six different players—while Barry and Kinne accounted for five of the team's six RBIs.
 
Dawson collected the pitching win, going six complete and allowing three runs—two earned—on five hits, while walking one and striking out one.
 
For the second game in a row, the Raiders jumped out early, scoring twice in the first and once more in the third to grab a 3-0 lead.
 
The Cardinals put a run across in the fourth, as Jake Mencacci (Wheaton, Ill.) delivered an RBI single to score Buerkle and cut the deficit to 3-1, but Mount Union answered with a two-run fifth to make it 5-1.
 
And time just ran out on the Cardinals, who went down in order in both the sixth and seventh in falling for just the second time in 10 contests.
 
The Cardinals managed just four hits off Mount Union starter Beau Taylor—and for the second game in a row, Saint Mary's four hits came from four different players.
 
Jesse Barron (Minnetonka, Minn.) took the pitching loss, giving up three runs on eight hits, while Ryan Fejt (Westchester, Ill.) went the final three innings, allowing two runs on three hits.
 
The Cardinals (8-2 overall) are back in action March 18-19, squaring off against Aurora, Wheaton (Ill.), and Cornell in Wheaton, Ill.