WINONA, Minn. — Talk about a lethal one-two punch.
The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team put an end to a three-game losing streak in convincing fashion Sunday afternoon—thanks to the combination of
Chris Bartosz's (Woodridge, Ill.) bat and
Jesse Barron's (Minnetonka, Minn.) right arm.
Bartosz drove in three of the Cardinals' four runs and Barron limited UW-Oshkosh to just four hits in 6 2/3 innings, as Saint Mary's opened its nonconference doubleheader against the Titans with a 4-1 victory at Max Molock Field.
Unfortunately for coach
Nick Winecke, Saint Mary's could not come up with the knockout blow in the nightcap, as UW-Oshkosh scored seven unanswered runs—three in the seventh and four more in the eighth—in dealing the Cardinals an 8-3 setback.
UW-Oshkosh tagged Barron for one run on two hits in their first at-bat, but that would be the last time the Cardinal right-hander would allow a Titan runner to cross the plate.
Barron surrendered just two more hits—both in the fourth—and gave way to reliever
Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn.) with two outs in the seventh. Mathwig struck out Zack Radde on four pitches to earn his second save.
The Cardinals scored single runs in the second, third, fourth, and sixth innings—with Bartosz delivering RBIs in three of those four frames to give Barron all the run support he would need.
Bartosz and
Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.) both finished 2-for-3 in the opener to pace the Cardinals' nine-hit attack, while
Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.),
Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.),
Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis.),
Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.), and
Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) all delivered one hit.
Saint Mary's got another stellar starting pitching performance in the nightcap, as
Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) allowed just a first-inning run over the game's first six innings. The freshman scattered six hits walked one and struck out four, and left with a 2-1 lead—thanks to
Ben Buerkle's (Roseville, Minn.) two-run sixth-inning home run.
That lead quickly disappeared, however, as UW-Oshkosh tagged reliever
Austin Jacobs (Cannon Falls, Minn.) with three runs in the seventh, and added four more in the eighth to grab an 8-2 advantage.
Saint Mary's got one run back in their half of the eighth—on an RBI single by Matthews—but the Cardinals left the bases loaded, and were then set down in order in the ninth to end the comeback.
Matthews collected a pair of hits, with Buerkle, Kinne, Barry, Bartosz, and
Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn.) all chipping in one Game 2 hit.
The Cardinals (10-9 overall) kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, hosting Gustavus in a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
