WINONA, Minn. — Temperatures in the 60s, sun shining … it was a picture-perfect day at Max Molock Field Saturday afternoon.
Unfortunately for Saint Mary's, St. Scholastica had to rain on the Cardinals' parade.
Saint Mary's got a two-run double by
Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) in a three-run sixth inning to lead the Cardinals to a 3-1 victory in Game 1 of the teams' nonconference doubleheader, but the Saints answered by scoring six runs in the first three innings in handing the Cardinals an 8-3 setback in the nightcap.
St. Scholastica broke up a scoreless pitchers' duel with a single run in the top of the sixth inning in Game 1, but the Cardinals quickly answered, getting a two-out, two-run single from Barry in the bottom of the sixth—and
Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Minn.) added a run-scoring single to give the Cardinals the 3-1 win in the Game 1 win.
"Great pitching performances from both teams in the first game—and we got some timely hitting, especially from
Jake Barry in the sixth, in that first game," said Saint Mary's coach
Nick Winecke. "And (St. Scholastica) took advantage from a few mistakes in the second game. But all-in-all, it was two great college baseball games—I was very happy with what I saw today."
Saint Mary's was limited to just four hits—but two came in that key two-run sixth inning. Along with the hits by Barry and Pieczynski, the Cardinals also got singles from
Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) and
Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.), while
Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) picked up the pitching win, scattering four hits and one run over six innings.
Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn.) earned his second save of the season, allowing just one hit in shutting the Saints down in the seventh.
The Saints' offense would not be silenced for a second game in the nightcap, however, as St. Scholastica scored twice in the first , before adding a solo run in the second and three more in the third to take a 6-2 advantage. The two teams traded fifth-inning runs and CSS tacked on one more in the seventh to seal the win.
Doll paced the Cardinals' seven-hit attack in Game 2, going 2-for-4, while
Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.), Kinne,
Jake Mencacci (Wheaton, Ill.), Barry, and
A.J. Redders (Middleton, Wis.) accounted for Saint Mary's other five hits—Barry's a one-out home run in the second inning.
Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) suffered the pitching loss, surrendering six runs on five hits in 2 1/3 innings.
The Cardinals (9-3 overall) are scheduled to return to action, weather permitting, next Friday and Saturday, squaring off against Aurora, Wheaton (Ill.), and Cornell (Iowa) in Wheaton, Ill.
