CAROL STREAM, Ill. — There were plenty of runs scored when the Saint Mary's University and Aurora baseball team squared off Friday.
In fact, the two teams combined for 22 runs, and there were just two innings — the second and the sixth — in which at least one run wasn't scored.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it was the Spartans who were doing most of the scoring, as Aurora erupted for 18 runs — fueled by a three-run seventh and an eight-run ninth — in dealing Saint Mary's an 18-4 nonconference setback at Lee Pfund Stadium.
The Spartans grabbed the upper hand in their very first at-bat, loading the bases on a walk, a Cardinal fielding error, and an infield single. Logan Riley promptly cleared the bases with a double to give Aurora the early 3-0 advantage.
After going 0-for-5 to open the game, the Cardinals loaded the bases with back-to-back-to-back two-out walks in the second, but Aurora starter Jack Fischer struck out
Tanner Bauman (Willmar, Minn.) to wiggle out of the jam.
Nik Panico extended Aurora's lead to 4-0 with a one-out home run to right in the top of the third, but this time the Cardinals had an answer, scoring on an Aurora throwing effort in the bottom half of the frame to keep it a three-run game, 4-1.
The Spartans got to SMU starter
Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) for another run in the four, tagging the Cardinal senior for three hits, including an RBI single by Derek Angelo, to push their lead to four, 5-1.
The four-run cushion lasted all of one out, however, as Saint Mary's bats came to life in the bottom of the fourth, getting a one-out, two-run single from
Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) — scoring
Stephen Golden (Centerville, Minn.), who opened the inning with a walk, and
Daniel Sherman (Richfield, Minn.), who followed up Golden's at-bat with a single — to pull the Cardinals within two, 5-3.
Saint Mary's continued to struggle getting out of an inning unscathed, once again surrendering a solo run to the Spartans in the top of the fifth, before the Spartans broke the game open with three runs — on a pair of hits — in the seventh to go up 9-3.
The Cardinals got one run back in their half of the seventh when
Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) opened the inning with a double, moved to third on a groundball double play, and scored on a balk, but Aurora answered with a solo run in the eighth and eight more in the ninth to seal the victory.
Sherman finished 3-for-3 with a walk and a run scored to lead the Cardinals' offensive attack, while
Riley Bauman and
Ryan Csida (Kimberly, Wis.) each chipped in a pair of hits.
The Cardinals (6-5 overall) are right back in action at 5 p.m. on Friday, when they square off against Wheaton (Ill.) in a nine-inning nonconference game.
