DAVENPORT, Fla. — Saint Mary's University baseball coach
Nick Winecke was probably hoping the Cardinals' first at-bat would be a sign of good things to come Friday afternoon.
After all,
Ryan Csida (Kimberly, Wis.) launched his first collegiate home run to lead off SMU's nine-inning game against Benedictine.
Over the final eight innings, however, the Cardinals would only be able to scratch across three more run, while Benedictine erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and finished the nine-inning affair with 10 runs in dealing SMU a 10-4 nonconference setback.
Csida got the Cardinals off on the right foot, blasting his first collegiate home run to lead off the game to give SMU a 1-0 advantage.
An advantage SMU starter
Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) would make stand up through the game's first three innings, before the Eagles broke through with their first run in the fourth.
Tanner Bauman (Wilmar, Minn.) gave Saint Mary's a brief 2-0 lead with an RBI single to score
Stephen Golden (Centerville, Minn.) in the top of the fourth, before Benedictine finally got to Hochevar for a single run in the bottom of the frame.
Benedictine grabbed its first lead of the game, plating five runs in the bottom of the fifth to grab 6-2 advantage.
Will Boeckman and Golden both scored on consecutive passed balls in the top of the sixth to get Saint Mary's within two, 6-4, only to have the Eagles get one back in their half of the sixth to hold three-run, 7-4 cushion.
The Eagles tacked on one run in the seventh, and two more in the eighth to seal the six-run nonconference victory.
Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.), Golden, and
Daniel Sherman (Richfield, Minn.) each collected two hits, while Csida,
Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.),
Will Boeckman (Big Lake, Minn.), and
Tanner Bauman accounted for SMU's other four hits.
The Cardinals (4-4 overall) close out their eight-game spring trip with a nonconference doubleheader against Saint Joseph's on Saturday. First pitch in Game 1 is slated for 4 p.m. (EST).
