By MEAGHAN UPDIKE
Saint Mary's Sports Information Intern

WINONA, Minn. — Coming off two conference wins against Carleton on Wednesday, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team was hoping for a repeat performance when they took the field for their home-opener against St. Olaf Saturday.

And they made it halfway — settling for a split against St. Olaf.

The Cardinals rode the dominating pitching of James Green (East Bethel, Minn.) to a 3-2 win, only to have St. Olaf erupt for 13 runs in the nightcap in dealing Saint Mary's a 13-2 setback.

The Cardinals grabbed the early lead with solo runs in each of the first three innings in the opener.

Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.) scored on a Will Matthews' (Geneva, Ill.) RBI single in the first, while Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis.) scored the second on a Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) single in the second, and Matthews scored on a Drohner sacrifice fly in the third.

That would be the extent of the Cardinals' offense in the opener.

Fortunately, with Green on the mound, three runs proved to be enough.

Green carried a no-hitter into the fifth, before surrendering a pair of hits as the Oles loaded the bases with no one out. The sophomore, however, worked out of the jam, inducing a fly out, a foul out, and a strikeout to maintain the Cardinals' 3-0 lead.

St. Olaf finally got to Green in the sixth, when Sam Stuckmeyer launched a two-run home run to make it a 3-2 game.

Green went the first six innings, allowing two runs on five hits. Tyler Stilp (Lindstrom, Minn.) and Kodey Kiel (Owatonna, Minn.) worked the seventh, with Kiel earning the save.

Matthews and Piechowski led the Cardinal offensive attack in the opener, each collecting two hits, while Weinberg, Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.), and Zach Drake (Westby, Wis.) had the other three hits.

While the Cardinals held the St. Olaf offense in check in the opener, the second game proved to be another story, as the Oles erupted for four runs in the third, two in the sixth and three in both the eighth and ninth in salvaging the split.

The Oles were up by seven in the sixth when Saint Mary's plated its lone two runs. Weinberg scored on a Piechowski double and Matthews added a sacrifice fly, scoring Piechowski.

Hunter Gustafson (Webster, Wis.) finished 3-for-3, while Weinberg and Piechowski each chipped in two hits as the trio accounted for seven of the team's 10 hits in the nightcap.

The Cardinals (4-2 MIAC, 12-10 overall) are back in action on Tuesday, heading to St. Thomas' Koch Diamond in St. Pual, Minn., for a 2:30 p.m. conference doubleheader against the Tommies.