WINONA, Minn. — One run on three hits.
 
The offensive numbers were far from impressive for the Saint Mary's University baseball team in the first game of its conference-opening doubleheader against Hamline.
 
But when you have Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) on the mound, one run and three hits is all the offense the Cardinals would need.
 
Hochevar tossed an absolute gem, allowing just one hit — a first-inning single — in posting the complete-game shutout in leading SMU to a 1-0 victory in Game 1 at Max Molock Field.
 
The Cardinal offense shifted things into high gear in the nightcap – Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) made sure of that.
 
Coyle went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs in igniting an nine-hit attack, as Saint Mary's completed the sweep with a 7-2 victory.
 
GAME 1: SAINT MARY'S 1, HAMLINE 0
 
Hamline tagged Hochevar with a one-out single in the top of the first inning, but the Pipers would not get another hit off the crafty senior left-hander, who was in complete control, allowing just four base runner over the final six innings — including wiggling out of a runner on second with one out jam in the seventh to preserve his third career complete game.
 
HU pitcher Connor Mestemacher handcuffed the Cardinal bats for most of his 4 2/3 innings of work, limiting SMU to just two hits — both in the fourth inning.
 
And two hits was all the Cardinals would need to score the game's only run.
 
After being set down in order through the first three innings, the Cardinals finally got to Mestemacher, with Ryan Csida (Kimberly, Wis.) leading off the fourth with an infield single. He was sacrificed to second by Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.), and, one out later, Coyle delivered a run-scoring single to give SMU a 1-0 lead.
 
That would be the extent of the offensive "fireworks" for the Cardinals, who would manage just one more hit — a Csida single in the sixth.
 
GAME 2: SAINT MARY'S 7, HAMLINE 2
 
The Pipers collected more hits, and more runs, in the first inning than they had in the entire opening game, tagging SMU starter TJ Bergland (Farmington, Minn.) for a pair of hits, and a solo run to grab a quick 1-0 lead.
 
And the Cardinals followed suit, delivering back-to-back hits — a one-out single (and stolen base) by Weber and an RBI double by Coyle — to knot the game at 1-1.
 
After a scoreless second, the Cardinals offense got back to work, scoring four third-inning runs — two thanks to Coyle's second double in as many at-bats, this one scoring both Weber and Csida — and the other two via a pair Piper errors.
 
Saint Mary's tacked on another run in the fourth, thanks to a hit batsman, a single by Coyle, and an RBI groundout by Brinton Anderson (Pulaski, Wis.) to extend its lead to 6-1. Hamline answered with a single run in the sixth, only to have SMU get a sacrifice fly by Csida in the eight to make it a 7-2 final.
 
Along with Coyle's two-double, three-hit performance, SMU also got two hits from both Weber and Daniel Sherman (Richfield, Minn.), while Bergland picked up the pitching win in his first start of the season, allowing two runs on seventh hits in 6 2/3 innings.
 
Saint Mary's (2-0 MIAC, 9-7 overall) is back in action with three weekday games this week, heading to Northfield, Minn., for a 2:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader against Carleton on Wednesday, before returning home to Max Molock Field for a 3 p.m. nonconference game against UW-Stout the following day.
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