COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — There's something about the first game of a doubleheader that suits the Saint Mary's University baseball team just fine.
 
The Cardinals headed into their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference twinbill against Saint John's having played eight doubleheaders — winning Game 1 in all eight.
 
Make that all nine.
 
The Cardinals got a pitching gem from Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) and took advantage of pair of two-run innings en route to a 5-2 victory in Saturday's opener at Becker Park.
 
The Cardinals haven't been quite as successful at completing the sweep, however.
 
Saint John's erupted for four runs in the seventh inning and eight more in the eight, as the Johnnies handed SMU its third straight Game 2 loss — and its fourth in the last five twinbills — beating Saint Mary's 13-3.
 
GAME 1: SAINT MARY'S 5, SAINT JOHN'S 2
After being set down in order in each of their first two at-bats, the Cardinals got their first baserunner — and their first two runs — in the third.
 
Tanner Bauman (Willmar, Minn.) drew a one-out walk, advanced to second on a SJU throwing error, and scored on a Daniel Sherman (Richfield, Minn.) run-scoring single. A walk and a hit batter loaded the bases for the Cardinals, and Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) singled up the middle to give Saint Mary's the early 2-0 lead.
 
Saint Mary's picked up right where it left off when it batted again in the fourth, recording its second straight two-run inning.
 
Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) kicked things off with a lead-off home run to right-center, and, one out later, Cam Miller (Kimberly, Wis.) laced a triple and scored on an RBI squeeze bunt single by Tanner Bauman.
 
Saint John's got to Hochevar for a solo run in the fourth, and added another run in the fifth to whittle SMU's lead to 4-2.
 
Miller gave the Cardinals a little breathing room in the sixth, opening the frame with a double, moving to third on a sacrifice bunt by Tanner Bauman, and scoring SMU's fifth run of the game on a wild pitch.
 
Andrew Fischer (Holmen, Wis.) took the ball from Hochevar to work the seventh, setting the Johnnies down in order to secure the Game 1 victory.
 
Miller and Sherman led the Cardinals' seven-hit attack, both going 2-for-3, with Coyle, Riley Bauman, and Tanner Bauman collecting SMU's other three hits. Hochevar picked up the win — his fourth of the season — allowing two runs on four hits, while walking one and striking out three in six innings of work.
 
GAME 2: SAINT JOHN'S 13, SAINT MARY'S 3           
The Cardinals put a runner in scoring position in both the first and second innings to open the nightcap — getting a single and stolen base by Will Boeckman (Big Lake, Minn.) in the first inning and loading the bases with two out in the second — but came up empty both times.
 
While the Cardinals were struggle to come up with the clutch hit early, Saint John's would need just one swing of the bat to strike first, getting a one-out solo home run from Owen Best in the bottom of the second to grab a 1-0 advantage.
 
Saint John's extended its lead to 3-0 — once again courtesy of the long ball — as Joe Becker belted a TJ Bergland (Farmington, Minn.) offering over the fence in right-centerfield for his team-leading 11th home run of the season. A pair of singles sandwiched around a stolen base plated SJU's third run of the inning to give the Johnnies a four-run, 4-0 cushion.
 
After going down in order in the third, the Cardinals once again threatened in the fourth, getting a one-out walk and stolen base from Tanner Bauman, only to have SJU starter Connor Hartley induce a fly out and strikeout to end the inning — and the SMU threat.
 
Saint Mary's finally got its offense on track in the sixth, scoring a pair of runs to cut the Johnnie lead in half, 4-2. Riley Bauman kicked things off in an impressive way, clubbing a lead-off home run. Miller followed with a double and scored on an RBI ground-out by Tanner Bauman.
 
The Cardinals continued to cash in in the seventh, getting an RBI double by Coyle to score Jack Anderson (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) — who had opened ht einning by reaching on an SJU fielding error — to cut the deficit to one, 4-3.
 
That, however, would be as close as Saint Mary's would get, as the Johnnies erupted for four runs in the seventh and tacked on five more in the eighth to secure the eight-inning, Game 2 victory.
 
Riley Bauman and Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) both had two-hit games, while Coyle, Miller, and Boeckman each chipped in one hit to account for SMU's seven, Game 2 hits.
 
The Cardinals (10-4 MIAC, 17-11 overall) are back in action next Tuesday and Wednesday, when they step out of conference play for nine-inning nonconference games at UW-Stout and UW-La Crosse, respectively.
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