WINONA, MINN. - The Saint Mary's University baseball team was feeling hot entering Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) doubleheader against St. Olaf College. The Cardinals were winners of four straight in conference play, while the Oles had not played a game since April 3 due to COVID-19 protocols. Unfortunately, Saint Mary's was the team that looked rusty Saturday afternoon, as the Cardinals dropped two to St. Olaf by scores of 8-4 and 14-6.
Saint Mary's hung with the Oles for most of the opener, as the Cardinals matched St. Olaf run for run through the first three innings. When the Oles scored two in the top of the first inning, Saint Mary's came right back and scored two in the bottom of the inning, courtesy of a RBI single by Will Matthews (Genvia, Ill). Then, after St. Olaf scored one in the second and another in the third, the Cardinals again came back, as Liam Belleveau (Middleton, Wis) and Matthews scored on a RBI double from Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis) to make it 4-4 after the first three innings of play.
Saint Mary's just couldn't keep pace with the Oles after that, as the visitors went on to score four unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth inning, resulting in the 8-4 game one loss for the Cardinals. Matthews ended the game by going 3-4 at the plate with one run and two RBI, while Tepp and Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) both tallied two hits in the ball game.
Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) took the loss on the mound, as he gave up five runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts. Jonathan Cieminski (Fountain City, Wis.) relieved Wolfe in the top of the fifth inning and surrendered three runs on two hits with six strikeouts.
The Cardinals hoped to rebound with a win in game two, but St. Olaf prevented them from returning to the win column. The Oles put up four runs in the top of the first inning, but the Cardinals battled through the remaining eight innings of play. Saint Mary's scored two runs in the bottom of the second, as Matthews scored on a fielder's choice by Trevon VanEgtern (La Crosse, Wis.) before Tepp scored the Cardinals second run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) to make it 4-2 St. Olaf after two.
In the end, Saint Mary's just could not catch the Oles on the scoreboard. Every time the momentum seemingly swung in the Cardinals direction, St. Olaf would steal it back, extending its lead to 6-3 after three innings and 12-4 at the midway point. Saint Mary's, though, just would not go away, as the Cardinals continued to score runs in the second half of the game. Saint Mary's eventually ran out of innings, though, as the team fell to the visiting Oles by a final score of 14-6.
Tepp was the top hitter in game two for the Cardinals, as he went 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs and one RBI. Weinberg and Matthews both went 2-5 in the batter's box, while VanEgtern tallied a team-high four RBI in the second game of the day.
Jordan Zabel (Elgin, Minn.) took the loss on the mound for Saint Mary's, as he gave up nine runs on nine hits in two innings of work.
With the two losses, the Cardinals record now stands at 18-10 and they are 12-7 in MIAC play. Saint Mary's will return to action on Monday for another nine-inning conference game against St. Olaf. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in Northfield, Minnesota.
