CAROL STREAM, Ill. — It wasn't the start that proved to be the Saint Mary's University baseball team's Achilles heel Saturday afternoon — it was the middle, and the end.
 
After surrendering a combined eight runs in the first inning in back-to-back losses to Aurora and Wheaton (Ill.) on Friday, the Cardinals held the University of Dubuque to just two runs through the game's first three innings on Saturday.
 
From there, however, the Spartans' bats came to life — in a big way — erupting for eight runs over the game's final five innings in dealing Saint Mary's a 13-3, eight-inning nonconference setback at Lee Pfund Stadium.
 
The Cardinals appeared to get off on the right foot against UD, scoring a solo run in their first at-bat — thanks to a two-out Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) bomb over the right field fence to give SMU a 1-0 lead.
 
Dubuque answered with a single run in the bottom of the first, and both teams scored once in the third — SMU's coming on a Ryan Csida (Kimberly, Wis.) RBI single to score Alex Crusan from second.
 
The Spartans took control from there, breaking the 2-2 tie with back-to-back three-run innings in the fourth and fifth to grab an 8-2 lead.
 
SMU got one run back in the top of the sixth, thanks to their second home run of the day — this one a solo shot by Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) — only to have UD plate one run in the bottom of the sixth, three more in the seventh, and another in the eight to seal the 10-run win.
 
Stephen Golden (Centerville, Minn.) paced SMU's six-hit attack, going 2-for-2 with a walk, while Csida, Bauman, Coyle, and Patrick Schork (Janesville, Wis.) all had one hit.
 
The Cardinals (6-7 overall) are back in action next weekend, heading to Milwaukee, Wis., for three nonconference games against Milwaukee School of Engineering. SMU and MSOE will play a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m., before closing out the three-game set with a single nine-inning 1 p.m. game the following afternoon.
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