ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's baseball has team has scored a lot of runs of late — and when the Cardinals score, they score in bunches.
 
Coming off a sweep of Concordia — in which SMU plated a combined 19 runs and posted a pair of five-run sixth innings — and a 19-9 rout of Bethany Lutheran that was fueled by a six-run third inning, the Cardinals were at it again Tuesday afternoon at CHS Field.
 
Clinging to a 5-2 lead over Hamline in the opening game of their MIAC doubleheader, Saint Mary's erupted for nine seventh-inning runs — you read that correctly, NINE — as the Cardinals posted their four straight 10+ run performance with a 14-2 victory over the Pipers.
 
It was more of the same for the Cardinals in Game 2, as Saint Mary's put together three, three-run innings and rode the bat of Mason Coyle (Madison Wis.) and the right arm of TJ Bergland (Farmington, Minn.) to a 10-0 victory in the nightcap.
 
GAME 1: ANOTHER BIG-INNING VICTORY
After three scoreless innings, Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) finally jump-started the Cardinals' offense with a lead-off triple in the fourth, and, after a pair of strikeouts, Daniel Marxen belted a double to left-center to give Saint Mary's an early 1-0 edge.
 
Saint Mary's upped its lead to 5-0 with another patented "big" inning in the fifth, scoring four times. Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) laced a one-out RBI triple, scoring Alex Hale (Oak Creek, Wis.) — who had opened the inning with his first collegiate hit — and Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis.) followed with a run-scoring single. Riley Bauman smacked a single to put runners on first and second, and Coyle belted SMU's fifth hit of the inning, a single to right that scored both Bauman and Coyle.
 
The Pipers cut into Saint Mary's five-run lead with solo runs in the fifth and sixth, but the Cardinals gave starting pitcher Andrew Fischer (La Crosse, Wis.) plenty of breathing room, scoring eight runs in the top of the seventh.
 
Riley Bauman kicked things off by launching his team-leading fifth home run of the season — a two-run shot — before Coyle singled, stole second, and scored on a Marxen one-out single to right.
 
But wait, there's more — a lot more.
 
Will Boeckman (Big Lake, Minn.) followed Marxen's single with one of his own, and Reece Berg and Weber chipped in RBI singles of their own. Pinch-runner Josh Costello (Victoria, Minn.) scored SMU's sixth run of the inning on a passed ball; an RBI ground-out by Riley Bauman plated run No. 7; Sam Schneider (St. Joseph, Minn.) added a bases-loaded walk; and Tanner Bauman (Willmar, Minn.) drew a bases-loaded walk to complete the nine-run inning.
 
Buoyed by a 12-run lead, Fischer promptly set down the Pipers in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal his second complete-game performance of the season — a two-run, eight-hit victory.
 
Riley Bauman finished 4-for-5 with four runs scored and three RBIs to pace the SMU offensive attack, while Weber, Coyle, Marxen, and Boeckman all finished with two hits.
 
GAME 2: NO SLOWING DOWN
Fresh off their nine-run seventh inning, the Cardinals picked up right where they left off in the nightcap, scoring three times in both the first and second innings to race out to a 6-0 lead.
 
Coyle and Berg sandwiched RBI doubles around a run-scoring single by Marxen in Saint Mary's three-run first inning, and Riley Bauman picked up an RBI single and Coyle his second and third RBIs of the game with a two-run single to cap the Cardinals' second straight three-run inning.
 
After a rather quiet third and fourth innings, the Cardinals were back to their run-scoring ways in the fifth, loading the bases on back-to-back-to-back singles by Patrick Schork (Janesville, Wis.), Weber, and Merfeld. Riley Bauman and Coyle both lifted sacrifice flies to plate a pair of runs, and Marxen rifled a triple to right-center to cap SMU's third three-run inning — and give Saint Mary's a commanding 9-0 lead.
 
Riley Bauman and Coyle continued to feast on Hamline pitching, accounting for SMU's 10th run of the game in the seventh. Bauman delivered a one-out single, stole second, and scored when Coyle laced his third hit in four at-bats to make it 10-0.
 
Coyle closed out Game 2 going 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBIs, while Riley Bauman, Weber, Merfeld, Marxen, and Berg all had two hits for the Cardinals. Riley Bauman also scored three times, giving the sophomore seven runs scored in the two-game series.
 
TJ Bergland went the distance on the mound for SMU, limiting the Pipers to just four hits en route to his first collegiate shutout — as well as his first collegiate win — in his first career complete game.
 
The Cardinals (8-10 MIAC, 13-18 overall) step out of conference play for a final time on Thursday, heading to Carson Park in Eau Claire, Wis., for a nonconference doubleheader against UW-Eau Claire. First pitch in Game 1 is set for noon.
 
 
 
 
 
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