By
DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team managed just one run in the opening game of its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Bethel Sunday afternoon at Max Molock Field.
But then, when you have
James Green (East Bethel, Minn.) on the mound, one run is more than enough.
Green tossed his third straight complete-game shutout — a five-hit gem — and the Cardinals' scored the game's only run on a
Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis.) sacrifice fly in the sixth, as Saint Mary's topped the Royals 1-0.
The Cardinals doubled their offensive output in Game 2 — and it appeared that those two runs would stand up. Unfortunately, Bethel erupted for two runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth in dealing Saint Mary's a 7-2 setback.
Game 1 proved to be a classic pitchers' duel between Green and BU starter Michael Bohlke, as the duo put up matching zeros over the first five innings — with each scattering five hits.
The Cardinals finally broke through in the sixth, as
Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.) and
Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.) laced back-to-back one-out singles to put runners at the corners. Drohner followed with a sacrifice fly to left to score Matthews with the game's only run.
Matthews and Tepp each finished with two hits, while
Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn.),
Bailey Melz (Excelsior, Minn.), and
Zach Drake (Westby, Wis.) had Saint Mary's other three hits in the opener.
Green — who has now thrown 21 consecutive scoreless innings — walked one and struck out five in improving to 7-0 on the season with four complete games. Bohlke, meanwhile, allowed one run on seven hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out three.
The Cardinals appeared poised to get on the board early in the nightcap, getting one-out singles by
Hunter Gustafson (Webster, Wis.) and Drohner in the bottom of the second, but the Royals turned an inning-ending double play to keep the game scoreless.
Saint Mary's would not be denied in the third, however. The Cardinals strung together three straight two-out singles by
Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.),
Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.), and Tepp — Tepp's scoring Weinberg from second — to grab a 1-0 advantage.
After 12 straight scoreless innings, the Royals finally plated their first run in the top of the sixth, getting a two-out RBI single by Thomas Friesen to score Ty Koehn, who had belted a one-out double.
The deadlock did not last long, however, as Saint Mary's regained the lead in its half of the sixth. Matthews laced a one-out single, moved to second on a ground out, and scored on a Drohner two-out single to give Saint Mary's the lead back, 2-1.
Bethel — rejuvenated by its sixth-inning tally — put the pedal to the metal, scoring a pair of runs on two hits in the seventh, before scoring four more in the eighth to seal the win, and the conference split.
Drohner and Matthews each had two hits for the Cardinals, who recorded 11 Game 2 hits — all singles.
The Cardinals (11-7 MIAC, 19-15 overall) — who remain in third place in the conference standings heading into the final week of regular-season play — close out the conference portion of their schedule on Wednesday, hosting Gustavus in a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
