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WINONA, Minn. — Before Thursday, the Saint Mary’s University and Finlandia baseball team had never met on the diamond.
After the Cardinals put up 33 hits and 26 runs in 12 innings, the Lions probably wished they had still never met.
SMU played the role of the ungracious host Thursday afternoon at Max Molock Field, scattering 13 hits and using a pair of four-run innings to beat Finlandia 10-0 in the opener, then erupted for a season-high 20 hits in Game 2, scoring at least one run in every inning in completing the sweep with a 16-0 triumph.
“It was good to see the guys swing the bats well,” said SMU coach Nick Winecke, whose team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, traveling to Concordia for a 1 p.m. doubleheader. “We were able to get a lot of people in the action, and anytime you can do that, it’s a plus.
“With just six games left in the season, it was nice to see the guys turn it loose a bit.”
Turn it loose? Now that’s an understatement.
The Cardinals scored a single run in the top of the first in Game 1, then put their foot on the accelerator, erupted for four second-inning runs — highlighted by a two-run single off the bat of
Kyle Ryan (St. Paul, Minn.). SMU made it 9-0 with four more runs in the fourth — two coming on an RBI single down the right-field line by
Robbie Johnson (Lake Elmo, Minn.) — before closing out the scoring with a single run in the bottom of the sixth.
Jack Dwyer (Minneapolis, Minn.), who recorded his first collegiate pitching win in SMU’s 6-3 victory over Bethel a week ago, made it two straight on Thursday, tossing six innings of one hit ball, while walking two and striking out a career-best seven.
And it was more of the same in the nightcap, as eight of the Cardinals’ starting nine had at least one hit, led by a 4-for-5 performance from Ryan, who finished the day 7-for-9 — grounding out in his first and last at-bats of the afternoon, while stringing together seven straight hits in between. Johnson added a 3-for-3, 3 RBI performance, won
John Swenson (Eagan, Minn.) was 3-for-5 with a pair or RBIs and three runs scored.
SMU again opened with a single run in the first and four in the second, but this time, the Cardinals just kept the hit — and run — parade going, plating three runs in the third, two in the fourth, five in the fifth and one in the sixth.
Matt Wilgenbusch (Durango, Iowa) earned his first pitching win of the season, allowing four hits in five innings.
Casey Jacobson (Apple Valley, Minn.) tossed a perfect sixth, and
Ben Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) — making his first collegiate appearance — walked two and struck out two in a hitless seventh.
“This was a good momentum-builder for us,” said Winecke. “Everyone did a nice job today, I certainly don’t have any complaints.”