AUBURNDALE, Fla. — Still smarting from a pair of losses to Grove City the previous afternoon, the Saint Mary's University baseball team made the most of its final game of its eight-game spring trip — much to the dismay of Russell Sage.
 
Facing the Gators for the first time in program history, the Cardinals erupted for nine runs — including a win-sealing four-run sixth — as Saint Mary's closed out its Florida swing with a 9-6 nonconference victory.
 
The Cardinals found themselves playing catch-up from the get-go, spotting Russell Sage a two-run advantage in the Gators' first at-bat.
 
But catch-up the Cardinal did, answering with three runs in the top of the second to grab their first lead of the day, 3-2. Will Boeckman (Big Lake, Minn.) kicked things off with a one-out double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI ground-out by Brinton Anderson (Pulaski, Wis.). Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) then walked and scored on SMU's second double of the inning — this one off the bat of Tanner Bauman (Wilmar, Minn.). Bauman promptly stole third and scored when Gator catcher Cole Paro's throw sailed into left field.
 
The two teams traded solo runs, Russell Sage knotting the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third and Saint Mary's regaining the one-run advantage, 4-3, courtesy of a Trevon VanEgtern (La Crosse, Wis.) sacrifice fly in the fifth.
 
And then the two teams turned up the offensive heat — combining to score seven runs in the sixth inning.
 
Saint Mary's erupted for four runs in the top of the sixth inning, thanks to RBI singles by Coyle, Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis.) and Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.), and a run-scoring groundout by Tanner Bauman, to push its lead to 8-3.
 
Russell Sage trimmed the SMU lead to two, 8-6, answering Saint Mary's four-run sixth with three runs of its own in the bottom of the frame — only to have Cardinals get a two-out RBI triple off the bat of Coyle — scoring Anderson, who had drawn a two-out walk — to ice the SMU victory.
 
Coyle spearheaded Saint Mary's nine-hit attack, going 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored, with Weber chipping in a pair of hits. Merfeld, Boeckman, Tanner Bauman, and Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) accounted for the other four SMU hits.
 
Timmy Smith (South St. Paul, Minn.) went the first six innings on the mound in earning the pitching win for the Cardinals, allowing six runs on nine hits. He did not walk and batter and struck out three, while Dylan Westcott (Holmen, Wis.) posted three innings of perfect relief to earn his first save of the season.
 
The Cardinals (3-5 overall) are back in action — weather permitting — next weekend, heading to Waverly, Iowa, for a pair of 1 p.m. nine-inning nonconference games against Waverly on Saturday and Sunday.
  Read Full Article