?WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's baseball team gave Concordia a taste of their own medicine Friday afternoon — and the Cardinals made sure it was a tough pill for the Cobbers to swallow.
 
Concordia entered the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader having scored 10 or more runs in eight of its last 10 contests — including 31 in sweep Hamline 11-2 and 20-16 last Wednesday — while boasting a team batting average of .395 during that stretch.
 
Against the Cardinals, however, Concordia could only muster eight runs in 16 innings — while Saint Mary's took at page of out CC's offensive playbook, erupting for a season-high 10 runs in the opener and nine more in the nightcap in sweeping past the Cobbers 10-3 and 9-5 at Max Molock Field.
 
GAME 1: COMING OUT SWINGING
The Cardinals set the tone from the get-go, grabbing the early advantage in the opener, scoring three times in the first inning — plating one on a bases-loaded wild pitch and two more on a Cobber throwing error for a 3-0 cushion.
 
The Cobbers did not wait long to begin chipping away at SMU's lead, taking advantage of the Cardinals' second error of the afternoon to score twice in the top of the third — only to have the Cardinals answer with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame.
 
Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis.) walked and Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) singled to open the SMU third. After a line-out to left, the two stole second and third, and, one out later, both scored on a two-run single by Trevon VanEgtern (La Crosse, Wis.) — and the lead ballooned back to three, 5-2.
 
Concordia scored once in the fourth on a triple and an RBI groundout to make it 5-3, but Saint Mary's had an answer — a big one. The Cardinals erupted for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of Riley Bauman to take complete control, 10-3.
 
Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) and Riley Bauman each finished with two hits to account for four of SMU's eight Game 1 hits, while Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) was masterful on the mound, twirling a complete-game seven-hitter, allowing just three run, while walking one and striking out four.
 
GAME 2: A SIXTH SENSE
The Cardinals didn't put up three-spot in their first at-bat to open the second game like they did in the opener — but it was close, as SMU scored twice in the bottom of the first to once again grab the early lead.
 
Weber and Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis.) opened the second game with back-to-back singles, and Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) drew a one-out walk to load the bases, before Daniel Marxen (Maple Grove, Minn.) laced a two-run single to put SMU up 2-0.
 
Saint Mary's didn't get to play with the lead for long, however, as Concordia matched SMU's first-inning offensive output in the second, scoring twice on a single and a sacrifice fly to knot the game a 2-2, before tacking on another run-scoring sacrifice fly in the third to grab its first lead of the game, 3-2.
 
The top of the lineup came through again for the Cardinals in the bottom of the third, as Weber and Merfeld once again led off the frame with singles. and Riley Bauman laced a double to left, scoring Weber. A one-out sacrifice fly by Marxen pushed across the Cardinals' second run of the inning — and put SMU back in front, 4-3.
 
One inning later, it was all tied up again, thanks to the Cobbers' Andy Gravdahl, who lifted a two-out solo home run over the right-field fence to knot the game at 4-4 after five.
 
And for the second game in a row, the Cardinals' sixth inning proved to be the back-breaker for the Cobbers, as SMU erupted for six runs in the sixth — highlighted by a run-scoring double by Riley Bauman and an RBI single by Coyle — to give SMU a 9-4 lead.
 
Concordia got one back in the top of the seventh, but that was as close as the Cobbers would get, as Dylan Westcott (Holmen, Wis.) came on relief of Timmy Smith (South St. Paul, Minn.), who went the first seven innings, and blanked the Cobbers over the final two innings to seal the win.
 
Riley Bauman closed out his stellar afternoon going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs — giving the five hits in seven at-bats with three runs scoring and five RBIs on the day — while Weber and Merfeld each chipped in two hits.
 
The Cardinals (6-10 MIAC, 10-18 overall) are back in action — weather permitting — on Sunday, when they travel to Mankato, Minn.) for a nonconference doubleheader against Bethany Lutheran.
 
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