MENOMONIE, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team headed into its nine-inning nonconference game against UW-Stout having hit 11 home runs through their first 28 games.
UW-Stout, meanwhile, had already clubbed 32 round-trippers this season.
So it should come as no surprise that home runs were the story of the day Tuesday afternoon at UW-Stout's Nelson Field.
What may come as a surprise, however, is the fact that it was the Cardinals who out-homered the high-powered Blue Devils.
Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) launched his third solo home run in as many contests, and
Ryan Csida (Kimberly, Wis.) recorded his first collegiate two-home run game, while UW-Stout managed just two four-baggers on the day.
Unfortunately, the Blue Devils' second home run of the contest, a three-run bomb in the bottom of the 10th inning, erased a 12-10 Saint Mary's lead — an advantage that came via Csida's second HR of the day, a two run inside-the-parker in the top of the 10th — as UW-Stout walked off with a 13-12 nonconference victory.
The scoring started early — and never stopped — with at least one run scored between the two teams in seven of the 10 innings.
The Cardinals jumped out to the early lead — thanks to Bauman. The junior launched his third solo home run in as many games to lead off the SMU second and give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Saint Mary's maintained that one-run advantage until the fourth, when UW-Stout got a run-scoring double from Riley Boushack, an RBI groundout by Leyten Bowers, and an RBI single by Colin Hageman to take its first lead of the game, 3-1.
A brief rain delay seemed to be just what the Cardinals' offense needed, as SMU came out of the break scoring twice in the top of the sixth to pull even with the Blue Devils.
Mason Coyle (Madison Wis.) and
Brinton Anderson (Pulaski, Wis.) opened the rally with back-to-back one-out walks, and Bauman continued to swing a sizzling bat, scoring both on a double to left-center.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature's untimely shower had much the same effect on the Blue Devil's offense, as they answered SMU's two-run outburst in the top of the sixth with two of their own In the bottom half of the frame — getting a two-run home run from Boushack to regain the lead, 5-3.
It appeared as if SMU's Bauman and UW-Stout's Boushack had so much fun trotting around the bases following their two round-trippers, the Cardinals'
Ryan Csida (Kimberly, Wis.) decided to give it a shot, blasting a two-run bomb to left field to pull Saint Mary's babck to even, 5-5.
SMU continued to struggle to keep the Blue Devils off the board, surrendering two runs in the bottom of the seventh. A walk, a hit batter and a double by Justin Sedin scored UW-Stout's first run of the inning, and a bases-loaded free pass to Bowers plated the Blue Devils' second run of the frame.
Unfazed the UW-Stout's string of two-run innings, the Cardinals continued to plug away, stringing together a lead-off double by Coyle and an RBI single by Anderson to once again pull even, 7-7.
And the Cardinals were just getting warmed up.
Bauman followed with a single and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and a single by
Will Boeckman (Big Lake, Minn.). Boeckman promptly stole second, and a two-out walk to
Alex Crusan (Bloomington, Minn.) loaded the bases. Csida quickly unloaded the bags, delivering a three-run double to left to give the Cardinals their first lead since the second inning, 10-7.
Not even a three-run lead was safe, however, as UW-Stout collected a pair of runs on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch to whittle the SMU lead to one, 10-9, and then knotted the game at 10-10 with a one-out sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth.
It appeared as if the Cardinals would leave Nelson Field with the extra-inning victory, when Csida uncorked his second home run of the afternoon — an inside-the-park, two-out, two-run shot — to give SMU a 12-10 lead.
A lead that did not last long.
UW-Stout opened the bottom of the 10th with back-to-back singles by Justin Schnell and Drew Ries, before Boushack cleared the bases — and ended the marathon contest — with his second home run of the game to deep right-center.
Riley Bauman enjoyed a career-day, feasting on UW-Stout pitching to the tune of a 5-for-5, two-double, one-home run, three-RBI performance. The five-hit performance — the first of his career — marked the first time an SMU player has collected five hits in a game since
Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) achieved the feat against Bethany Lutheran on April 30, 2023.
Csida chipped in four hits in four at-bats — including his first collegiate two-home run game — while Weber, Coyle, Anderson, and Boeckman all had one hit.
The Cardinals (17-12 overall) are right back in action on Wednesday, when they head to La Crosse, Wis., for a nine-inning nonconference game against 12th-ranked UW-La Crosse. First pitch at Copeland Park is slated for 3 p.m.
