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WINONA, Minn. — "Stay away from the crooked numbers."
 
That's been Saint Mary's University baseball coach Nick Winecke's mantra all season.
 
Unfortunately for Winecke, there was a fire sale on crooked numbers Thursday afternoon — and Cornell (Iowa) was in a buying mood.
 
The Rams scored five runs in the second inning of the first game of their nonconference doubleheader against SMU at Max Molock Field — and came away with a 6-4 victory.
 
And in Game 2, it was a three-run second, two-run fourth and four-run sixth that propelled Cornell to an 11-3 win and sweep of the nonconference twinbill.
 
 
Cornell got to SMU starter Jacob Dawson (Oakdale, Minn.) early in the opener, tagging the Cardinal sophomore for five runs on five hits in grabbing its 5-0 second-inning advantage.
 
The Cardinals cut the gap to two, 5-3, with a crooked three-spot in the fourth, as Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) picked up an RBI when he was hit by a pitch with the bases load, while an RBI groundout by Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) drove in SMU's other two fourth-inning runs.
 
The Rams pushed the lead back to three, 6-3, with a single run in the fifth, but a LaNasa sacrifice fly scored Doll to pulled the Cardinals back within two, 6-4.
 
Cornell reliever Billy Pearson, however, blanked the Cardinals in the bottom of the seventh to seal the two-run Cornell win.
 
Both teams came out swinging in the nightcap, as Cornell plated a single run in the top of the first, and the Cardinals answered with a solo run of their own on a Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) RBI single in their first at-bat.
 
But the Rams were just getting warmed up, as they took the lead for good with three runs in the second and another in the fourth to build a 5-1 advantage. A Buerkle third-inning double drove in Gannon with SMU's second run to make it a 5-2 game, but Cornell plated two in the top of the fourth, and — after an RBI single by Doll cut the gap to 7-3 — Cornell put the game out of reach with four runs in the sixth.
 
Doll led the way for the Cardinal offense, going 4-for-6 with two doubles and a pair of RBIs in the twinbill, while Buerkle had three hits in seven at-bats and also drove in two runs. With his third-inning Game 1 single and his RBI single in the first inning of the nightcap, Buerkle extended his hitting streak to 19 straight — the longest consecutive hit streak since Brady Knudsen hit safely in 21 straight games during the 2008 season.
 
The Cardinals (6-13 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action on Saturday, traveling to St. Peter, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader against Gustavus.