WINONA, Minn. — For the Saint Mary's University baseball team, it wasn't a matter of
if the Cardinals were going to score, it was a matter of
when.
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And it was three runs that made up the
if, and the bottom of the eighth took care of the
when, as Saint Mary's rallied from a 2-0 deficit with a single run in the seventh and three. More in the eight — and then hung on for dear life in the top of the ninth to escape Max Molock Field with a 4-3 victory.
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The Cardinals and Norse battled through six scoreless innings, with Cardinal starter
Andrew Fischer (La Crosse, Wis.) doing a phenomenal impression of Harry Houdini, leaving at least one Luther runner on base in the first four innings of his five-inning, five-hit outing — including a first-and-third, nobody out jam in the top of the first.
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Fischer gave way to
Eric Stomberg (St. Paul, Minn.), who matched his Cardinal teammate, allowing five hits in four innings, including the game's first two runs in the top of the seventh to give Luther a 2-0 advantage.
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Saint Mary's cut the deficit in half with a solo run in the bottom of the seventh on a Luther error, before taking the lead for good with an RBI triple by
Ryan Csida (Kimberly, Wis.), a failed pick-off attempt on Csida on third, and a run-scoring double by
Gavan Schulte (Sartell, Minn.).
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Stomberg surrendered a lead-off single in the top of the ninth, and Luther added another single to cut the SMU lead to 4-3, but Stomberg shut the door, striking out the final two batters he faced.
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Csida and
Daniel Sherman (Richfield, Wis.) each collected a pair of hits to highlight SMU's nine-hit attack, with
Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.), Schultte,
Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.),
Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.), and
Tanner Bauman (Wilmar, Minn.) accounting for the other five SMU hits.
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The Cardinals (1-1 overall) are now off until March 3, when they kick off their eight-game spring trip to Davenport, Fla., with a doubleheader against Illinois College.
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