WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team banged out 13 hits in its nine-inning nonconference game against St. Scholastica Tuesday afternoon.
The visiting Saints, meanwhile, managed just 11 hits off three Cardinal pitchers.
Unfortunately, St. Scholastica also benefited from six walks and five Cardinal errors, as the Saints dealt the Cardinals a 10-4 nonconference setback at Max Molock Field.
The Cardinals set the tone early against St. Scholastica starter Martin Alcoverde—real early.
Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.) lifted the Saints' right-hander's very first pitch to deep left-center for a stand-up double, moved to second on Will Matthew's single, and scored on an RBI groundout by
Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.). Walks to
Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) and
Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) loaded the bases, and
Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis.) followed with the Cardinals' third walk of the inning to plate Matthews with run No. 2.
St. Scholastica cut the Cardinal lead in half with an unearned run in the top of the second, then tied it up with a one-out sacrifice fly in the third.
Saint Mary's regained the lead, 3-2, in its half of the third, loading the bases on back-to-back singles by
Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) and Barry, and an error by CSS first baseman Conor Wollenzein—and scoring on a
Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) RBI ground out to second.
The lead, however, did not last long—in fact, that one-run advantage quickly turned into a two-run deficit, as St. Scholastica tagged Cardinal starter
Jesse Barron (Minnetonka, Minn.) for three fourth-inning runs to grab a 5-3 lead.
The Saints extended their lead to 7-3 with a pair of runs in the fifth—without the benefit of a hit. CSS loaded the bases on a hit batter and a pair of walks, before a sacrifice fly by Joey Zwak and a passed ball pushed two runs across.
Walks came back to haunt the Cardinals again in the seventh, as reliever Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) walked the first two batters, and Steven Neutzling launched a three-run home run to make it a 10-3 CSS lead.
Saint Mary's threatened in both the seventh and eighth—coming up empty each time—before finally getting back on the scoreboard in the ninth.
In the seventh, Slowiak induced a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh and Barry followed with a single to right. But a fly out to left and a ground out ended the threat—and left the Cardinals staring at a seven-run deficit.
And in the eighth,
Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn.) and Seegers opened the inning with back-to-back singles. CSS reliever Grant Rindal got pinch-hitter
Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.) to strike out looking, and induced a pair of force-outs at second to preserve the lead.
After going five straight innings without a run, Seegers drew a bases loaded, two-out walk in the ninth to score pinch-runner
Nate Schoemann (Oak Creek, Wis.), but that would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as CSS pitcher Jake Turner got Piechowski to ground out to third to end the game.
The Cardinals finished with 13 hits—including two each from Seegers, Matthews, Buerkle, and Barry. Barron suffered the pitching loss, surrendering five runs—only two of which were earned—on six hits in 4 innings.
Saint Mary's (9-6 overall) is right back in action on Wednesday, traveling to Copeland Park in La Crosse, Wis., for a pair of nine-inning games at UW-La Crosse.
