AUBURNDALE, Fla. — Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball coach Nick Winecke can sum up Friday's contest against Alma in four words: "Better late than never."
 
After scoring just three runs in the first seven innings of their nine-inning nonconference game against Alma, the Cardinals erupted for eight runs in the eighth—taking advantage of two, three-base Scots errors, not to mention a Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) three-run home run—in cruising to an 11-7, come-from-behind victory.
 
The Cardinals managed single runs in the first and second innings—the first on a Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis.) single to score Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.), and the second on an RBI double by Seegers to plate Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.), who had laced a one-out triple—to stay even with the Scots, 2-2.
 
That, however, would be the extent of the Cardinals' offense through the first five innings. Saint Mary's threatened several times—including runners on second and third with no outs in the third—but came up empty each time.
 
After giving up two runs on two hits in the first inning, Cardinal starter R.J. Brown (Broadview, Ill.) found his groove, allowing just one hit—a two-out, Matthew Minaudo single in the third—over the next four innings.
 
The Scots got to Brown in the sixth, getting a pair of singles from Greg Goffee and Swanson to put runners on first and third—and bring in Chris Bartosz (Woodridge, Ill.) from the Cardinal bullpen. A wild pitch and a walk loaded the bases for the Scots, and Ben Finzel delivered a one-out RBI single to take a 3-2 advantage.
 
The advantage did not last long, however, as Barry launched his first home run of the afternoon—a lead-off shot in the bottom of the sixth—to pull the Cardinals back even, 3-3.
 
Alma took the lead for the third time in the top of the seventh, as the Scots loaded the bases against Bartosz and got a one-out, sacrifice fly off the bat of Goffee to go back in front, 4-3.
 
The Scots padded their lead to 6-3 with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth, but the Cardinals once again had an answer—in a big, big way.
 
Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.) drew a one-out walk and scored on a Matthews double down the left-field line. Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn.) followed with a grounder that Alma first-baseman Nick Swanson and right-fielder Jaret Koin both misplayed, allowing Matthews to score from second and Costello to round the bases with the game-tying run.
 
And the Cardinals weren't finished—not by a long shot.
 
Seegers delivered his fourth hit of the afternoon—a double down the left-field line—and scored on a Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) single that Minaudo misplayed in left field to allow the Cardinal freshman to round the bases with Saint Mary's fifth run of the inning—and an 8-6 lead.
 
But wait, there's more.
 
After a Buerkle grounded out for the second out of the inning, Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) and Drohner each walked, and Barry followed with his second home run of the afternoon—a three-run shot to left—to give the Cardinals a commanding 11-6 cushion.
 
Alma would score once in the top of the ninth, but it would not be enough, as the Cardinals locked up their third straight win and sixth in seven contests this season.
 
Seegers finished 4-for-5 with a pair of runs scored to lead the Cardinals' offensive attack, while Matthews was 3-for-4 and Barry was 2-for-5 with four RBIs. Kinne also had two hits for the Cardinals, who banged out 14 hits in the nine-inning affair.