WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota and Augsburg baseball team's certainly had a flair for the dramatic Thursday afternoon.
 
In their final at-bats in the ninth and seventh innings of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader, the two teams combined for 11 runs—with all 11 coming via the home run.
 
Augsburg's Mike Brookshaw launched a grand slam in the top of the ninth inning in the opener—and the Auggies survived a Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Wis.) three-run home run in the Cardinals' half of the ninth—to hand Saint Mary's a 6-5 setback.
 
In the nightcap, Augsburg's Tyler Buescher lifted a game-tying, two-run home run in the top of the seventh, only to have Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.)­—who proved to be Augsburg pitcher's worst nightmare all afternoon—answered with a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh to give the Cardinals a 7-5 win, and a conference split.
 
The two teams combined to hit eight home runs on the day—including five from the Cardinals. Doll led the home run parade, launching a pair en route to his 6-for-8 performance at the plate in doubleheader.
 
After three scoreless innings to begin the afternoon, the Cardinals finally broke through in the fourth in Game 1. Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) led off with bunt single, moved to third on single by Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.), and—after back-to-back strikeouts—scored on an RBI single by Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis.).
 
The Auggies answered right back, scoring twice in top of the fifth—the first on a double by Andy Julkowski and the second on a two-out Cardinal throwing error—to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Still trailing by one—and down to their final four outs—it was Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) to the rescue, as he launched his team-leading fourth home run of the season, a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth to knot the game at 2-2.
 
And force extra innings.
 
Augsburg threatened in the top of the eighth, loading the bases with one out, but Cardinal reliever Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn.) induced a pair of flyball outs to left to keep the game deadlocked.
 
Saint Mary's took a page out of the Auggies' book in the bottom of the eight, loading the bases with one out, only to have Augsburg reliever Steven Piette get a strikeout and ground out to end the threat.
 
The Auggies loaded the bases again in the ninth. This time, however, the Cardinals were not able to escape unscathed, as Brookshaw launched a shot off the scoreboard in left for a grand slam home run—and a four-run, 6-2 cushion.
 
Saint Mary's would not go down without a fight, getting one-out singles from Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.) and Doll to put runners on first and third with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Pieczynski—who narrowly missed a home run in the first inning, pulling it just foul—did not miss this time around, blasting a three-run shot over the left-field fence to get the Cardinals with one, 6-5.
 
After a Buerkle groundout, Lursen singled and Kinne walked to put the game-tying run on second and the game-winning run on first. That would be as close as the Cardinals would get, however, as Lincoln Hochmuth got Barry to fly out to right to end the threat—and the game.
 
Doll finished with four hits in five at-bats, while Pieczynski, Buerkle, Lursen, Seegers, and Drohner all had two hits to pace the Cardinals' 15-hit Game 1 attack.
 
Brookshaw continued to feast on Cardinals' pitching in Game 2, belted his second home run of the game—a solo shot in the top of the first—to give the Auggies a brief 1-0 lead.
 
The Cardinals responded with four runs in the bottom of the first—the first on an RBI single by Buerkle and the other three coming on Jake Mencacci's (Wheaton, Ill.) first collegiate home run.
 
Augsburg whittled Saint Mary's lead to one, 4-3, with a pair of runs in the top of the second, but again the Cardinals had an answer, as Doll blasted his fifth hit of the game—a solo home run in the second—to push the lead back to 5-3.
 
And it would remain a two-run Saint Mary's advantage—until the seventh, when Buescher lifted a two-run home run to right to knot the game, 5-5—and set up Doll's game-winning heroics.
 
Drohner led off the Cardinal seventh with a walk, and was sacrificed to second Bailey Melz (Excelsior, Minn.). Drohner, however, was thrown out at third on a ground ball to short by Seegers. Doll then ended things with his second hit—and second home run—of the game to secure the split.
 
Doll was the only Cardinal with more than one hit in Game 2, finishing 2-for-3, while he and Mencacci each drove in three runs. Austin Jacobs (Cannon Falls, Minn.) picked up the pitching win, allowing two runs on three hits in three innings of relief.
 
The Cardinals (6-6 MIAC, 18-11-1 overall) take to the road on Sunday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader against Macalester.