WINONA, Minn. — It took a little longer than expected — and required two separate venues — but the Saint Mary's baseball team got its Game 1 victory over Carleton nonetheless.
 
Twenty-four hours after rain put Game 1 of SMU's MIAC doubleheader against Carleton on hold with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning at Max Molock Field, the Cardinals needed all of 10 minutes Monday to seal the 9-3 victory at Carleton's Mel Taube Field.
 
The nightcap was not as favorable for the Cardinals, as the visiting Knights were more than comfortable on their home diamond, scoring in six of the nine innings — including a two-run first and a three-run ninth — as Carleton dealt Saint Mary's a 10-2 setback to earn the conference split
 
GAME 1: TWO DAYS, ONE VICTORY
 
After being held off the scoreboard in their first three at-bats in the opener, the Cardinals' offense came to life in the fourth, scoring three times to take an early three-run lead. Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) opened the inning with a single, and walks to Daniel Marxen (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Patrick Schork (Janesville, Wis.) loaded the bases with one out. Alex Crusan (Bloomington, Minn.) lifted a sacrifice fly to score SMU's first run of the game, and Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) added a two-run single to give Saint Mary's a 3-0 lead.
 
Saint Mary's tacked on two more runs in the fourth on a Marxen RBI double and a run-scoring ground-out by Schork, before Carleton broke through for a solo run in the top of the fourth to cut the SMU lead to 5-1.
 
The Cardinals put together their second three-run inning of the game in the sixth — and were still batting with two out when Mother Nature stalled SMU's uprising. Coyle drove in Saint Mary's first run of the sixth and Marxen added a two-run triple to make it 8-1.
 
When play resumed on Monday, Berg delivered an RBI single to deep short on the first pitch he saw to extend the lead to 9-1, scoring Marxen — who doubled in Winona, and scored in Northfield.
 
Carleton put together a "mini-rally" in the top of the seventh, tagging SMU reliever Dylan Westcott (Holmen, Wis.) for a pair of runs on three hits — including a two-run home run of the bat of Sam Gossard — to make it a 9-3 final.
 
Coyle and Marxen have both collected three hits, with Coyle scoring three runs, while Marxen has scored twice and driven in three runs. Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) picked up the pitching win, allowing one unearned run on five hits, while striking out five and not walking a batter in six innings of work.
 
GAME 2: PLENTY OF CHANCES, NOT CLUTCH HITS
 
Carleton set the tone early in the nightcap, and the Cardinals never recovered.
 
After spotting the Knights a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, Saint Mary's quickly cut the deficit in half in its first at-bat, as Weber led off the Cardinal first with his second triple of the season — a towering shot off the wall in right-center — and scored on a Merfeld sacrifice fly.
 
Carleton plated solo runs in both the third and fourth to pad its lead to 4-1, but the Cardinals got one back in the bottom of the fourth. Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) opened the SMU fourth with a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third an infield single by Coyle, and scored on SMU's second sacrifice fly of the game, this one off the bat of Marxen, to make it 4-2.
 
The Knights added their third straight one-run inning in the fifth, and doubled that offensive output with a pair of runs in the sixth to extend their advantage to 7-2.
 
Saint Mary's put a runner on with less than two outs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings – Merfeld reached ed to open the sixth on a Carleton fielding error; Marxen kicked off the seventh; and Sam Schneider (St. Joseph, Minn.) delivered a one-out single in the eighth — but the Cardinals came away empty-handed all three times, and headed to the ninth still down by five.
 
Carleton put the first two runners on in the ninth, and did not squander the opportunity, getting a one-out, two-run single by Sam Zacks and an RBI single by John Hurtubise to put Saint Mary's in a 10-2 hole heading to the bottom of the ninth.
 
Riley Bauman opened the ninth with a walk, but as was the case in the previous three innings, Saint Mary's was unable to take advantage — and SMU was forced to settle for a split in its season-finale.
 
Weber, Marxen, Schneider, and Coyle accounted for Saint Mary's four hits against Carleton hurler Michael Karbowski, while Carleton banged out 17 hits against four Cardinal pitchers in the nightcap.
 
With the split, Saint Mary's closes the book on 2023 with a 15-20 overall record, including 9-11 in conference play.
  Read Full Article