WINONA, Minn. — It wasn't quite the way Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball coach
Nick Winecke was hoping his Cardinals would open the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule.
The Cardinals were limited to just four runs over 16 innings, as No. 21 St. Thomas dealt Saint Mary's a pair of conference losses—4-1 and 10-3—at Max Molock Field Sunday afternoon.
Saint Mary's could not get its offense going against UST starter Eric Veglahn in the opener, as the Tommie left-hander limited the Cardinals to just two hits over the game's first six innings—before surrendering two hits, and a lone run in the seventh.
St. Thomas gave Veglahn all the offensive support he would need, scoring once in the first, twice in the third, and once in the fourth in taking a commanding 4-0 advantage.
After managing just singles by
Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Wis.) and Will Doll (Amherst, Wis.) over the first six innings, Saint Mary's got lead-off double by
Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) and an RBI single by
Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.) in the bottom of the seventh.
That, however, would be all the offense the Cardinals would generate in Game 1.
The Cardinals got the bats going a bit in the nightcap, plating three runs on 11 hits.
Unfortunately, the Tommies' offense was also just getting warmed up, as UST pounded out 19 hits and scored 10 runs in sealing the conference sweep.
St. Thomas again struck early, scoring twice in their first at-bat and adding four more in the top of the fourth. Saint Mary's answered with a pair of runs in their half of the fourth—thanks to a pair of bases-loaded walks—but the Tommies answered with two more runs in the fifth to push their lead back to 8-2.
Saint Mary's plated its third run on a
Jake Mencacci (Wheaton, Ill.) double and an RBI single by
Jacob Frost (Moline, Ill.) in the sixth, but again St. Thomas had an answer, scoring twice in the eighth to round out the scoring.
Doll led the way for the Cardinal offense in Game 2, going 3-for-4 with an RBI, while
Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) and Mencacci each chipped in two hits and Frost chipped in a pair of RBIs.
The Cardinals (0-2 MIAC, 12-8 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, traveling to St. Peter, Minn., for a 2:30 p.m. conference doubleheader against Gustavus.
