AUBURNDALE, Fla. — Maybe a day off was just what the doctor ordered for the Saint Mary's University baseball team.
Well-rested after an off day, the Cardinals — who opened their spring trip with just one win in their first four spring trip games — were clicking on all cylinders against Calvin, putting together a pair of three-run innings and rolling to an 8-3 victory over the Knights Thursday afternoon.
Calvin struck first, tagging SMU starter
Eric Charest (Blaine, Minn.) — who was making his first collegiate start on the mound — for a solo run in the bottom of the first inning.
Saint Mary's quickly answered, plating a pair of runs in the top of the second on back-to-back two-out RBI singles by
Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) and
Tanner Bauman (Willmar, Minn.), only to have Calvin tag Charest for another run in the bottom of the frame to knot the game at 2-2.
The Cardinals gave their pitching staff a little breathing room, scoring three unearned runs in the sixth and putting together a second three-run inning in the eighth to grab an insurmountable 8-2 advantage.
Tanner Bauman,
Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.), and
Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) all collected two hits to account for six of SMU's eight hits against the Knights, with Coyle and
Patrick Schork (Janesville, Wis.) delivering the Cardinals' other two hits.
Tanner Bauman also drove in two and scored twice to complete his 2-for-4 day at the plate.
Charest picked up his first collegiate pitching win, allowing two runs on six hits over the first five innings. Eric Stromberg (St. Paul, Minn.) blanked Calvin on two hits in two innings of relief, and
Dylan Westcott (Holmen, Wis.)
Saint Mary's (2-3 overall) is right back in action on Friday, returning to NorthEast Regional Park in Auburndale, Fla., for a 9:30 a.m. (EST) nonconference doubleheader against Grove City.
