By
Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — When it comes to opening games of doubleheaders, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team's pitching staff has been nothing short of untouchable.
The league-leading Cardinals headed into Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Bethel having had a pitcher throw a Game 1 complete game in three straight twinbills.
Eli Morison (Minneapolis, Minn.) nearly made it four straight, tossing 6 1/3 innings of three-hit ball. And relievers
Kodey Kiel (Medford, Minn.),
Tyler Stilp (Lindstrom, Minn.), and
Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn.) picked up right where Morison left off, holding the Royals to just one hit over the game's final 4 1/3 innings.
And with the pitchers doing their part, the Cardinal found just enough offense—scoring the game-tying run in the top of the seventh, then getting a game-winning, one-out RBI single from
Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.) in the top of the 10
th inning to give Saint Mary's the 2-1 victory.
There was no shortage of runs in the nightcap—unfortunately for the Cardinals, it was the Royals doing all the scoring, as Bethel erupted for four runs in the first inning and never looked back in dealing Saint Mary's a 10-1 setback to earn a split in the teams' conference doubleheader.
The Cardinals threatened in their first at-bat in the opener, getting back-to-back singles from
Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.) and
Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.), and loading the bases one out later when
Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) was hit by a pitch. Bethel pitcher Selin wiggled out of the jam, however, getting
Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) to strike out looking and Seegers Seegers was thrown out at the plate trying to steal home.
After going to down in order in the first two innings, the Royals got to Morison in the third, getting a two-out, RBI single from by Sam Horner to grab a 1-0 lead.
Saint Mary's finally broke through in the seventh—thanks in part to a Bethel error—as Barry—who led off the inning with a single and was sacrificed to second by Slowiak—scored on a
Connor Cornell (Plymouth, Minn.) fly out to right and a miscue on the play by BU shortstop Jake Shubert.
In the eighth, Seegers delivered a two-out single and moved to second on BU's second error of the game, but was stranded when Tepp flew out to center to end the inning.
Saint Mary's took the lead for good in its half of the 10
th, as Cornell singled, advanced to second on a
Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn.) sacrificed and scored on Piechowski's single to right.
Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn.)—Saint Mary's fourth pitcher—worked a perfect 10
th to preserve the win.
Seegers and Tepp both finished with two hits to pace the Cardinals' seven-hit offensive attack, while Stilp earned his first collegiate pitching win with two perfect innings of relief and Mathwig picked up his second save.
Bethel did not waste any time taking control of the second game, scoring four times in the first inning, and by the time
Liam Belleveau (Middleton, Wis.) delivered a run0-scoring single for the Cardinals in the top of the sixth, the Royals had already plated 10 runs.
The Cardinals' eight hits in the nightcap came from eight different players, as Saint Mary's had its season-high eight-game winning streak snapped.
Saint Mary's (8-2 MIAC, 14-11 overall) are right back in action on Sunday, traveling to Moorhead, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader against Concordia.
