WINONA, Minn. — For the second time in as many conference doubleheaders played at Max Molock Field, it was home sweet home.
Unfortunately for the Saint Mary's baseball team, this time around, it was St. Olaf enjoying the home cooking.
In a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader originally scheduled to be played in Northfield, Minn., but moved to Winona due to poor playing conditions at St. Olaf, the Oles were the official home team on Saturday — and savored that Max Molock Field home cooking.
Sam Lavin and Brock Brumley combined on a one-hitter, as St. Olaf scored the game's only run in the bottom of the sixth inning in opening the twinbill with a 1-0 victory, before scoring five times in the bottom of the eighth to erase a 7-3 deficit, and plating the game-winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth in dropping the Cardinals 9-8 in the nightcap.
GAME ONE: CAN'T TOUCH THIS
The Oles and Cardinals found themselves in a classic pitchers' duel in the opener, as SMU's
Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) and Lavin were in complete control from start to finish.
Lavin set the tone by striking out the side in SMU's first at-bat — and fanning seven of the first nine Cardinal batters he faced. Hochevar, meanwhile, struck out four in the first three frames.
After getting a runner to second twice through five innings, St. Olaf finally struck through in the sixth, when Kulesa delivered a run-scoring single with two outs to plate what proved to be the game's only run.
And with Lavin on the mound, one run was all the Oles would need. The right-hander twirled a six-inning no-hitter, allowing just one base-runner —
Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis.) reached on a fourth-inning Ole throwing error — while striking out 10, before giving way to Brumley, who surrendered a one-out double to
Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.), before inducing a ground-out and a fly-out to preserve the shutout.
Hochevar was the hard-luck losing pitcher, scattering just five hits, while striking out a career-high 10 and walking one in six innings of work.
GAME 2: LATE-GAME HEARTBREAK
The Cardinals spotted St. Olaf a 2-0 lead after the opening inning, and after both teams scored solo runs in the third — SMU's coming on a
Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) sacrifice fly — the Cardinals' offense finally shifted into high gear.
Saint Mary's plated a pair of runs in the fifth on a wild pitch and
Riley Bauman's second sacrifice fly to give SMU its first lead of the game, 3-2. Another sacrifice fly in the sixth, this one off the bat of
Daniel Marxen (Maple Grove, Minn.), pushed the Cardinals' lead to 4-2, and a three-run seventh — highlighted by a two-run double by
Riley Bauman — gave Saint Mary's what appeared to be a commanding 7-3 advantage.
St. Olaf, however, had other ideas, scoring five times in the bottom of the eighth inning to takes its first lead since the opening inning, 8-7.
Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) belted a run-scoring double down the left-field line in the top of the ninth to get Saint Mary's back to even, 8-8, only to have St. Olaf's Evan Hammonds deliver a two-out, walk-off single to give the Oles the conference sweep.
Alex Crusan (Bloomington, Minn.) and
Reese Berg (Green Bay, Wis.) each had two hits to pace SMU's 10-hit Game 2 attack, Crusan and
Tanner Bauman (Wilmar, Minn.) each scored twice and
Riley Bauman finished with four RBIs.
The Cardinals (2-4 MIAC, 6-12 overall) are back in action — and back at Max Molock Field — on Wednesday, when they play host to Bethel in a 2:30 MIAC doubleheader.
