By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team picked up its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win of the season on April 10—thanks in large part to the pitching of Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.).
 
Wolfe recorded his first collegiate complete game—not to mention his first collegiate shutout—throwing a four-hitter in leading the Cardinals to a 1-0, Game 2 win over St. Thomas.
 
The Cardinals were back on the diamond Saturday afternoon for a pair of conference games against Gustavus.
 
And in Game 1, James Green (East Bethel, Minn.) gave the Cardinals their second straight pitching gem, as the freshman pitched all seven innings—the fifth time in as many starts he has gone seven innings—allowing just one earned run, while striking out six in leading Saint Mary's to a 3-2 victory at Saint John's Becker Park.
 
The Cardinals took a different approach to earn the victory in Game 2, erupting for 15 runs—including seven in the fifth inning—as Saint Mary's completed the conference sweep with a 15-6 win.
 
The Cardinals got things rolling in their first at-bat in the opener, as Joeo Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.) led off with a double, moved to third on a single by Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.), and scored on a Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) sacrifice fly to right.
 
Gustavus scored on an unearned run in its half of the first, but the Cardinals regained the lead for good in the second on their second sacrifice fly of the afternoon—this one from Seegers to score Will Matthews (), who led off the inning with a single.
 
After coming up empty after loading the bases in the sixth, the Cardinals struck for another run in the top of the seventh on a Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis.) groundout to short.
 
Gustavus made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh, as Ethan Mocchi belted a two-out home run and Matt Berkner followed with a single, but Green got Moriarty to strike out swinging to end the threat—and earn his first collegiate pitching win.
 
Tepp and Matthews led the Cardinals' seven-hit offensive attack in the opener, each collecting two hits, with Seegers, Irwin, and Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) accounting for the other three hits.
 
 The Cardinals turned up the offensive heat in the nightcap, scoring in every inning but the fourth.
 
Saint Mary's kicked things off with a single run in the first, before adding three in the second and two more in the third.
 
Yet, despite the six-run outburst, the Cardinals were left clinging to a one-run, 6-5 lead heading into the fifth.
 
And what a fifth it was.
 
The Cardinals sent 15 batters to the plate in the fifth inning, scoring seven runs on five hits—including an RBI triple by Barry, a two-run single by Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.) and run-scoring singles by Tepp and Weinberg—to push their lead to 13-5.
 
Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) delivered an RBI single in the sixth and Jake Mencacci (Wheaton, Ill.) added a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh to round out the scoring for the Cardinals.
 
Barry led the Cardinals' 19-hit attack in the nightcap, going 4-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored, while Piechowski and Weinberg each chipped in three hits, with Tepp and Slowiak added two hits each.
 
The Cardinals (3-1 MIAC, 9-10 overall) are back in action on Monday, returning home to Max Molock Field for a 2:30 p.m. conference doubleheader against Carleton.