WINONA, Minn. – It may have been the conference-opener for both the Saint Mary's University and Gustavus baseball teams Friday afternoon, but it already had the makings of a heavyweight title bout.
 
In the black and gold corner, Gustavus stepped into the ring boasting an unblemished 3-0 record, while outscoring their opponents by an astronomical 40-8.
 
In the red and navy corner, Saint Mary's came in with a near-perfect 5-1 mark, not to mention a pitching staff ERA of 1.02 and an opposing team batting average of .205.
 
In other words, it was a classic Goliath vs. Goliath.
 
And after 16 rounds of haymakers and jabs, the unanimous decision … a draw.
 
Gustavus flexed its muscles in the early rounds, getting to the Cardinals' untouchable pitching staff for 10 runs in a 10-3 victory in the opener.
 
But the later rounds — especially the really later rounds — belonged to Saint Mary's, as the Cardinals took a page out of the Gusties' heavy hitting playbook to scoring three runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh en route to a 9-5 Game 2 win and a split of the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
 
After holding the high-powered Gusties at bay for the first three inning in the openers, GAC tagged SMU starter Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) for five runs in the top of the fourth inning, before tacking on two more in the fifth and three in the sixth.
 
Saint Mary's scored three times in the bottom of the seventh, but it was too little, too late.
 
Taylor Anderson (Waukesha, Wis.) went 2-for-3 in Game 1, with Tyler O'Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn.), Kodey Kiel (Owatonna, Minn.), Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.), Mitchell Feyereisen (River Falls, Wis.), Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn.), and David French (Winona, Minn.) all added one hit.
 
Gustavus appeared to be ready for deliver the knockout punch in the nightcap, scoring single runs in each of the first five innings to grab a 5-0 lead.
 
The Cardinals, however, survived the Gusties' second-game jabs, and answered with a 1-2 knock-out punch of their own, scoring the game's fine eight runs — one in the fifth, three in the sixth and four in the seventh — to seal the win.
 
Weinberg and Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.) picked up two hits each, while Matthews and Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.) both had a pair of RBIs in the nightcap.
 
Jordan Zabel (Elgin, Minn.) earned his first collegiate pitching win, tossing three innings of scoreless, one-hit relief.
 
The Cardinals (1-1 MIAC, 6-2 overall) are back in action on Monday, playing host to Crown in a 2 p.m. nonconference doubleheader at Max Molock Fie.d.