CAROL STREAM, Ill. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team used some timely hitting to kick off its two-day stay at the Wheaton Tournament in impressive fashion Friday afternoon.
 
The Cardinals got a three-run double from Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.) and a two-run home run off the bat of Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) to grab an early 5-1 lead—and Saint Mary's never looked back in rolling to a 12-2, seven-inning nonconference win over Aurora.
 
Saint Mary's grabbed a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to Lursen's bases-load, three-run double, and Barry added a two-run home run—his team-leading third of the season—to make it a 5-1 Cardinal advantage.
 
The Cardinals pushed their lead to 10-1 with five runs in the fifth, and, after the Spartans scored a solo run in the seventh, iced the 10-run victory with two runs in the bottom of the eighth—getting an RBI groundout from Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) and a run-scoring single from Lursen.
 
Lursen and Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, collecting three hits each, while Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.), Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.), and Barry all chipped in two hits.
 
Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) picked up the pitching win, going the first eight innings—allowing one run on five hits, while striking out four and walking three. Eli Morrison (Minneapolis, Minn.) pitched the final two innings, scattering four hits and surrendering one run.
 
The Cardinals are back on the diamond at 5 p.m. on Friday, squaring off against host Wheaton in a nine-inning nonconference contest.