ST. PAUL, Minn. — After scoring 208 runs — including at least three in 29 of its 36 regular-season games — the Saint Mary's University baseball team picked a rather inopportune time to have its offense go into a deep freeze.
Fortunately for coach
Nick Winecke, the Cardinals' offensive hibernation — which consisted of just one run on four hits in their playoff opener — lasted less than 24 hours.
Coming off that one-run showing in falling to top-seeded St. Olaf 11-1 in the opening round of the MIAC Playoffs on Thursday, the Cardinals returned to their high-octane offensive form — in a major way — against Saint John's Friday at CHS Field.
The Cardinals scored two runs on three hits — including a double and a triple — in their first plate appearance, which proved to be a very good omen for SMU, as Saint Mary's erupted for 19 runs on 15 hits in routing the Johnnies 19-4 to keep its MIAC post-season hopes alive.
With the win, the Cardinals — whose 19 runs are the most since beating Bethany Lutheran 19-9 on April 30, 2023 — advance to their second straight elimination game Friday, facing the loser of day's second game between St. Olaf and Bethel at 6 p.m. at CHS Field.
Saint John's didn't have any trouble scoring runs in its first game of the post-season — keeping its opponent from scoring, however, was another story. SJU raced out to a 7-0 lead, only to surrender 17 unanswered runs in falling to Bethel 17-7 to set up Friday's win-or-go-home scenario.
And that number climbed to 25 unanswered runs in Saint Mary's first three at-bats in the win-or-go-home elimination game.
Tanner Bauman (Willmar, Minn.) set the tone for the Cardinals on just the second pitch he saw — drilling a Griffin Larson offering into right-center for a lead-off triple. After a strikeout by
Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.),
Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) came through with an RBI single to center and
Sam Knickerbocker (Eau Claire, Wis.) drove him home with a stand-up double to give Saint Mary's the early 2-0 advantage.
After blanking the Johnnies in the bottom of the first, Saint Mary's went back to work in the second, loading the bases with one out on a single by
Daniel Sherman (Richfield, Minn.), a hit batter and a walk to
Tanner Bauman. Weber lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Sherman, and, after
Riley Bauman walked to reload the bases, Knickerbocker laced a two-run single to left — and just like that, Saint Mary's enjoyed a 5-0 lead.
SMU starter
Dylan Westcott (Holmen, Wis.) posted his second straight two-strikeout inning in shutting down the Johnnies in the second — and the Cardinal offense picked up right where they left off in the third.
Cam Miller (Kimberly, Wis.) collected a one-out infield single to deep short to jump-start a three-run third for SMU. Sherman followed by launching his first collegiate home run, and
Riley Bauman added his second RBI single of the afternoon, as the SMU lead ballooned to 8-0.
The Johnnies got their first three hits off of Westcott in the bottom of the third on back-to-back singles by Reed Marquardt and Rodney Erickson, and a two-run, two-out double by Jack Schleper, to get SJU within six, 8-2.
Saint Mary's made it four straight innings with at least one run scored in the fourth, as the Cardinals loaded the bases with no one out — sandwiching singles by
Brinton Anderson (Pulaski, Wis.) and Miller around their first of three hit batsman in the inning.
From there, the Cardinals literally walked around the bases. Sherman drew a four-pitch walk,
Ryan Csida (Kimberly, Wis.) was plunked by SJU reliever Quinn Kruger,
Tanner Bauman induced yet another four-pitch walk, and Weber was hit by a pitch to make it 12-2.
And there were still no outs in the inning.
Riley Bauman then capped the Cardinals' six-run fourth with a two-run single, giving Saint Mary's a commanding 12-run cushion, 14-2.
After being held off the scoreboard for the first time in the fifth, Saint Mary's went back on the offensive in the sixth, getting an RBI single by Knickerbocker — his career-high fourth RBI of the afternoon — to plate the Cardinals' first run of the inning. A single by Anderson and a two-out walk to
Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) loaded the bases — and Miller promptly cleared them with a three-run double to deep left-center. Sherman would lace a single through the right side to plate SMU's fifth run of the inning — and 19th of the afternoon — to make it a 19-2 Cardinal cushion.
Saint John's strung together three straight hits in the bottom of the seventh — scoring two runs — but Westcott induced a game-ending groundout to second to earn the complete-game victory.
Knickerbocker and Sherman both finished with three hits and four RBIs, while Miller also finished the day with three hits.
Riley Bauman and Anderson chipped in two hits, with
Tanner Bauman and Csida accounting for the other two. Westcott went the distance in picking up his fifth pitching win of the season, allowing four runs on nine hits, while equaling his season-high with seven strikeouts.
