AUBURNDALE, Fla. — After three straight one-run nailbiters, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team decided to give coach
Nick Winecke frazzled nerves a little break Wednesday.
A pair of four-run innings in their first two at-bats—not to mention a seven-run sixth and 19 total runs—made for a rather laid-back afternoon in the Florida sun for the Cardinal head coach, as the Cardinals cruised to a 19-4 win over Finlandia.
The Cardinals, coming off a 4-3 win and 7-6, 13-inning loss to Wartburg, and another 4-3 victory over Franklin in their last three games, did not waste any time taking control against Finlandia. Saint Mary's plated four runs in each of their first two at-bats—scoring four times on one hit in the first, while getting a two-run double by
Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) to highlight its four-run second—to grab a commanding 8-0 lead.
Both teams scored single runs in the third—Saint Mary's on a
Joey Costello () RBI single—before the Lions cut the Cardinal lead to 9-4 with three runs in the top of the fourth.
The Cardinals'
Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) launched a two-run home run in the fourth and a
Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) single in the fifth plated another run to push the Saint Mary's lead to 12-4.
And Saint Mary's was just getting warmed up.
The Cardinals sent 13 batters to the plate in their seven-run sixth-inning outburst—highlight by a two-run single from
Zach Drake (Westby, Wis.), a two-run double by
Jack Cherry (Hopkins, Minn.), and RBI singles by
Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.) and
Chris Bartosz (Woodridge, Ill.).
Saint Mary's banged out 19 hits en route to its 19 runs—the Cardinals' highest offensive output since routing Hamline 19-2 in the MIAC Playoff elimination game a year ago. Buerkle went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, while Piechowski was 3-for-4 and also drove in two runs. Kinne, Barry, and
Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) each finished with two hits and two RBIs.
Jacob Taschetta (Winfield, Ill.) picked up his first career pitching win, tossing 2.1 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief.
Jack Nelson (Portage, Wis.) pitched the first 3.2 innings for the Cardinals, allowing four runs on three hits, while
Blake Primmer (Kenosha, Wis.) tossed a scoreless seventh.
The Cardinals (5-1 overall) are off on Thursday, before returning to action with a pair of nine-inning nonconference games against Alma (12:30 p.m. EST) and Rockford (4 p.m. EST) on Friday.
