By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
AUBURNDALE, Fla. — Coming off four games — and a combined 30 innings — in the first two days of their nine-day, 10-game spring trip, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team decided to "slow things down" a bit on Tuesday, playing a single, nine-inning contest against Rose-Hulman.
 
It may have been just a single-game day, but there was nothing "slow" about the Saint Mary's and Rose-Hulman's offenses, as the two teams combined to score 32 runs — including 10 by the Fightin' Engineers in the fourth inning alone.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Rose-Hulman had the better finishing kick, scoring 15 of the game's final 18 runs in dealing Saint Mary's its first loss of the season, 18-14.
 
The Cardinals grabbed the early lead, scoring four times in the top of the first inning. Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.) got things rolling for the Cardinals, leading off with a walk, moving to third on a throwing error by Rose-Hulman catcher Sean Casey and scoring on a balk by Clayton Mayfield. After a walk to Liam Belleveau (Middleton, Minn.), a single by Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.), and a pair of strikeouts, Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis.) and Dixon Irwin (Red Wing, Minn.) delivered RBI singles and Drohner scored the final run of the inning on the Fightin' Engineers' second throwing error of the inning.
 
Rose-Hulman cut the deficit to one with a three-run second inning, but Saint Mary's had an answer — thanks to a two-out double by Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.), followed by a two-out single by Connor Cornell (Plymouth, Minn.) — to push the Cardinal lead to 6-3 after two complete.
 
But six runs in the first two innings was just the tip of the iceberg.
 
The Cardinals recorded their second four-run inning in the third. Saint Mary's loaded the bases with one out, before Belleveau laced an RBI single, and, one out later, Tepp smacked his second hit in as many at-bats — a two-run single — to make it 9-3. Tepp would score the fourth and final run of the inning — stealing second, moving to third on a Matthews' single, and scoring on a Luke Calabrese error — to give the Cardinals what appearance to be a commanding 10-3 advantage.
 
Rose-Hulman, however, had other ideas, as the Fightin' Engineers scored 10 runs off three different Cardinal pitchers in the top of the fourth to take their first lead of the game, 13-10.
 
The Fightin' Engineers quickly found out, however, that no lead was safe.
 
With one swing of the bat, Saint Mary's whittled the deficit to one, 13-12 in bottom of the fourth — thanks to a one-out, two-run double by Belleveau — only to have Rose-Hulman push the lead back to two, 14-12, scoring on a Cardinal balk in the top of the fifth.
 
After a pair of quiet innings in the fifth and sixth, the Cardinals got back to work, loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh. A Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn.) bases-loaded walk got Saint Mary's back within one, 14-13, but relief pitcher Adam Taylor got pinch-hitter Hunter Gustafson (Webster, Wis.) to grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the threat — and keep the Fightin' Engineers in front.
 
Rose-Hulman parlayed two singles and a Cardinal throwing error into three runs in the top of the eighth and added another solo run in the ninth to close out the scoring.
 
Belleveau led the Cardinals' 13-hit offensive attack, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored, while Cornell was 3-for-6, and Matthews, Drohner, Piechowski, and Tepp all recorded two hits. Piechowski and Tepp joined Belleveau with three runs scored as the trio accounted for nine of the Cardinals' 13 runs.
 
Saint Mary's (4-1 overall) are off on Wednesday, before returning to the diamond on Thursday for a nine-inning matchup against Capital. First pitch is slated a noon EST start.