WINONA, Minn. — It took more than two weeks — and seven reschedule dates — but the Saint Mary's University baseball team finally got to play its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Augsburg.
 
With mixed results.
 
Augsburg belted a pair of home runs — and erupted for five third-inning runs — in dealing the Cardinals a 6-3 setback in the opener, while the Cardinals turned the tables in the nightcap, scoring four of their five runs in the first inning in salvaging a split with a 5-3 victory Thursday afternoon at Max Molock Field.
 
GAME 1: LONG BALL WOES
 
The Cardinals grabbed the early lead, scoring in their first at-bat on a Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) sacrifice fly, only to have Augsburg answer in the top of the second. Steven Salzman, who feasted on SMU pitching a year ago — hitting four home runs in the teams' eight meetings — launched a solo shot to deep left field to knot the game at 1-1.
 
And Salz was just getting warmed up.
 
With two runs already across in the third, the Auggie junior launched his second home run of the game — a three-run bomb — to push Augsburg's lead to 6-1. Saint Mary's got one run back in the bottom of the third on a Cam Miller (Kimberly, Wis.) RBI single that scored Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis.), who had reached on a two-out triple to left.
 
Saint Mary's whittled the Auggie lead to 6-3 on a Ben Coons' (Kimberly, Wis.) sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth, but that proved to be the extent of the Cardinal offensive attack.
 
Merfeld, Miller, and Tanner Bauman (Willmar, Minn.) all had two hits — including a double and triple, and a pair of runs scored by Merfeld.
 
GAME 2: QUICK START KEYS VICTORY
 
The Auggies were first on the board in the nightcap, plating a solo run in their first at-bat, only to have Saint Mary's answer — in a big way — in the bottom of the frame. A double by Miller and a single by Will Boeckman (Big Lake, Minn.) plated SMU's first two runs of the inning, and Tyler O'Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn.) followed with a two-run double down the left-field line to give SMU a 4-1 advantage.
 
After a scoreless second, the Auggies once again used the long ball to cut into the Saint Mary's lead, belting their third home run of the afternoon — a two-out, two-run shot off the bat of Brandon Lockhart — to make it a one-run game, 4-3.
 
Boeckman and O'Brien teamed up to score Saint Mary's fifth run of the game, as Boeckman laced a one-out double and O'Brien drove him in with a two-out single to put the Cardinals in front, 5-3.
 
And with the 1-2 punch of starter Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) and reliever Andrew Fischer (La Crosse, Wis.), the Auggies would get no closer, as the Cardinal pair threw up six consecutive scoreless innings to seal the win.
 
Hochevar went the first five innings, allowing three runs — none of which were earned — on four hits, while striking out seven. Fischer worked the final four innings, blanking the Auggies on five hits and striking out six in earning his team-leading fifth save.
 
Merfeld followed up his two-hit effort in Game 1 by going 3-for-4 in the nightcap, while Miller finished 3-for-5 and Boeckman and O'Brien chipped in two hits.
 
The Cardinals (7-5 MIAC, 15-14­ overall) are back in action on Saturday, heading to St. Peter, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader against Gustavus.
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