LA CROSSE, Wis. — When the Saint Mary's University baseball team took the field Tuesday afternoon, the Cardinals had not played since sweeping a nonconference doubleheader against Wheaton eight days ago.
UW-La Crosse, meanwhile, had played four games against Finlandia in the last two days — including three straight wins over the Lions on Monday.
And the red-hot Eagles — taking advantage of the Cardinals' offensive "rustiness" — scored five runs before SMU recorded its first hit in cruising to a 6-1 nonconference victory over Saint Mary's at Copeland Park.
After going down in order in the first, the Eagles' turned up the offensive heat in their second plate appearance, tagging Saint Mary's starter
Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) for three runs in the second inning — highlighted by a two-run double off the bat of Logan Pye and an RBI single from Jonathan Wizner — to grab an early 4-0 advantage.
The Eagles' lead climbed to 6-0 with solo runs in the fourth and fifth — while the Cardinals offense had managed just one hit through the game's first five frames.
Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis.) broke up UW-L pitcher Jacob Bryant's no-hitter with a two-out single to center in the top of the fifth.
Tyler O'Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn.) followed with a walk, but Bryant would wiggle out of the jam with a groundout to short.
Saint Mary's finally broke through in the sixth, getting a lead-off double by
Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) and a two-out single to center by
Jake Mercado (Belle Plaine, Minn.).
The Cardinals had a golden opportunity to cut into the Eagles' lead in the seventh, loading the bases on an O'Brien double and back-to-back walks to Weber and
Daniel Marxen (Maple Grove, Minn.). UW-L reliever Mitchel Fassbender, however, recorded an inning-ending strikeout to thwart the threat — and keep SMU staring at a five-run deficit.
Saint Mary's threatened again in the eighth, putting runners on second and third with two outs, only to have Fassbender record yet another inning-ending strikeout. And it was more of the same in the ninth, as the Cardinals were unable to parlay two ninth-inning singles into any runs in suffering the 6-1 setback.
The Cardinals, who stranded 14 runners on base in the nine-inning affair, finished with eight hits — from eight different players — including doubles by O'Brien, Weber, and
Trevon VanEgtern (La Crosse, Wis.). Hochevar suffered the pitching loss, allowing five runs on five hits in four innings.
Timmy Smith (South St. Paul, Minn.) went three innings, giving up one run on one hit, with
Andrew Fischer (La Crosse, Wis.) tossing a hitless eighth.
The Cardinals (8-9 overall) are back in action on Saturday, when they kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a doubleheader against St. Scholastica. First pitch in the opener at Wade Stadium in Duluth, Minn., is set for 1 p.m.
