MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — If the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team was intimidated by squaring off against NCAA Division I University of Minnesota, they certainly didn't show it.
 
In fact, the Cardinals led off the game with a hit, and scored a run in their first inning against the Gophers.
 
Unfortunately, that first-inning run would be the last time a Cardinal would cross home plate, as Minnesota scored nine unanswered runs in handing Saint Mary's a 9-1 nonconference setback at Siebert Field.
 
"That was a great experience for our guys—and I thought they represented Saint Mary's very well," said Saint Mary's coach Nick Winecke. "I thought we pitched pretty well, but made a few mistakes that (Minnesota) capitalized on.
 
"Offensively, we had a couple good opportunities, but couldn't get that clutch hit when we needed it," Winecke added. "All-in-all, I was pretty pleased with our performance."
 
The Cardinals wasted no time getting its offense on track, as Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) led off the game with a single, stole second and moved to third on a throwing error by Gopher catcher Austin Athmann, and scored on an RBI groundout by Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.).
 
Saint Mary's clung to its one-run lead—despite putting runners on base in each of the game's first four innings—but the Gophers finally broke through in the fourth, scoring a pair of unearned runs to take their first lead of the game, 2-1.
 
A lead the Gophers would not relinquish.
 
Minnesota pushed its lead to 4-1—parlaying three singles and a stolen base into a pair of runs off Saint Mary's third pitcher of the afternoon, Ryan Fejt (Westchester, Ill.)—before Athmann launched a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh off Jake Kramlinger (White Bear Lake, Minn.) to extend the advantage to 7-1.
 
Terrin Vavra welcomed reliever Eli Morrison (Minneapolis, Minn.) by lacing a two-out, eighth-inning triple—scoring two—to make the final 9-1.
 
Doll and Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) accounted for all four of the Cardinals' hits, as Doll went 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Buerkle was 2-for-4.
 
Starting pitcher Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) held the high-powered Gophers to just two hits—and no runs—in his two innings of work, before giving way to Austin Jacobs (Cannon Falls, Minn.), who suffered the pitching loss, after surrendering a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth. Fejt allowed two runs on three hits in his one inning of work, while Kramlinger was tagged for three runs on five hits in 1 1/3 innings, A.J Redders (Middleton, Wis.) gave up two runs in 1 1/3 innings, and Morrison—after giving up a two-run triple—went the final one-third of an inning.
 
The Cardinals (12-6 overall) kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, hosting St. Thomas in a doubleheader at Max Molock Field. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.