MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — If Saint Mary's University baseball coach had any concern what a year lay-off would do to his squad, the Cardinals promptly put those fears to rest — in their very first at-bat.
 
The Cardinals erupted for six runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back in cruising to an 8-2 win over St. Scholastica in the first game of their nonconference doubleheader at US Bank Stadium.
 
Saint Mary's put up another six-run first in the nightcap, but the Saints would rally, grabbing 9-8 lead heading into the sixth inning when the game was halted due to time limit. The game will be completed on another day, if schedules allow.
 
Back-to-back walks and a Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) single kicked off the Cardinals' six-run first in the opener. Another walk to Kodey Kiel (Owatonna, Minn.) loaded the bases. A Dallas Miller wild pitch made it 2-0, and Taylor Anderson (Waukesha Wis.) laced a bases-clearing double to score three more, while Tyler O'Brien (Belle Plain, Minn.) — who led off the inning with a walk — delivered a two-out double for Saint Mary's sixth run of the frame.
 
Saint Mary's would add another run in the top of the second on a Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.) RBI single, before St. Scholastica plated its two runs in the bottom of the second.
 
Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn.) drove in the Cardinals' final run of the opener with an RBI single in the top of the seventh.
 
Weinberg finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI to pace the Cardinals' nine-hit Game 1 offensive attack, while Costello went 2-for-4 and Anderson drove in three runs. Four Cardinal pitchers — led by starter Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) held the Saints to just four hits. Wolfe went the first two, allowing two runs on one hit in two innings, while Jonathan Cieminski (Fountain City, Wis.) tossed two perfect innings, before giving way to Jordan Zabel (Elgin, Minn.), who scattered three hits in three innings. Kiel closed things out with a perfect seventh.
 
Game 2 looked eerily similar to Game 1, as Saint Mary's once again put up six runs in their first at-bat.
 
Back-to-back doubles by Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.) and Weinberg gave Saint Mary's a quick 2-0 lead, and, one out later, Matthews delivered a run-scoring single for a 3-0 advantage. A sacrifice fly by Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.), a two-out single by Brandon Hafemann (Milwaukee, Wis.), and an RBI single by Trevon VanEgtern (La Crosse, Wis.) made it 6-0 heading to the second.
 
St. Scholastica plated one run in the second, and then erupted for seven runs in the third to take its first lead of the day, 8-6. SMU pulled even in its half of the third — getting an RBI triple off the bat of Costello and a run-scoring groundout by VanEgtern to knot the game at 8-8.
 
CSS regained the lead with a solo run in the top of the fifth, and the Cardinals went down in order in the bottom half of the inning as the allotted time at US Bank ran out, forcing the game to be halted.
 
Matthews went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored in the nightcap, with Saint Mary's other six hits coming from six different players. VanEgtern recorded a pair of RBIs and Costello scored twice.
 
Jake Mercado (Belle Plaine, Minn.) started on the mound for the Cardinals in the nightcap, going 1 2/3 innings, allowing one run, while walking three and striking out two. Luke Gilbertson (Windom, Minn.) allowed seven runs — four earned) on five hits in an inning of work, with Jacob Johnson (Hartland, Wis.) holding CSS to one run without giving up a hit in 2 1/3 innings of relief.
 
The Cardinals (1-0 overall) are back in action — and back at US Bank Stadium — on Sunday, squaring off against Luther in a nonconference doubleheader. First pitch is slated for 9 p.m.