AUBURNDALE, Fla. — After playing 20 innings in their doubleheader against Wartburg on Monday—including a 13-inning, Game 2 marathon—it appeared as if the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team were headed to another extra-inning affair in their nine-inning game against Franklin Tuesday morning.
 
Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.), however, had other ideas.
 
The Cardinal freshman delivered a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning, lifting Saint Mary's to a 4-3 victory over the Grizzlies.
 
After spotting Franklin a 1-0 third-inning lead, Saint Mary's rattled off single runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings—getting RBI singles from Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) and Matthews, and a run-scoring groundout from Dixon Irwin (Red Wing, Minn.)—to grab a 3-1 lead.
 
The Cardinals, who struggled to maintain a late-inning advantage against Wartburg on Monday—leading 5-3 in the top of the 12^th and 6-5 in the top of the 13^th only to surrender a pair of runs in the bottom of the 13^th in the 7-6 Game 2 loss—saw their two-run lead against the Grizzlies disappear, as Franklin parlayed a pair of hits into two seventh-inning runs to knot the game at 3-3.
 
And set up Matthews' eighth-inning heroics.
 
Saint Mary's opened the eighth putting runners on first and second via a hit-batsman and a Franklin error. Jake Mencacci (Wheaton, Ill.) sacrificed the runners to second and third, and, after a walk to Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.) loaded the bases, Matthews delivered a sacrifice fly to deep right to plate the game-winning run.
 
Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) went 3-for-3 with a double to pace the Cardinals' seven-hit attack, with Seegers, Matthews, Slowiak, and Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn.) accounting for the others.
 
Austin Jacobs (Cannon Falls, Minn.) pitched the first six innings for Saint Mary's, allowing three runs on five hits, while walking three and striking out three. Josh Hottinger (Oconomowoc, Wis.) earned the pitching win with two innings of shutout relief, while Chris Bartosz (Woodridge, Ill.) came on to pitch the ninth, overcoming a two-out fielding error to preserve the win—and earn his first collegiate save.
 
The Cardinals (4-1 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, squaring off against Finlandia in a nine-inning nonconference game. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m. (EST).