By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MOORHEAD, Minn. — James Green (East Bethel, Minn.) did his part Sunday afternoon, as the freshman right-hander tossed a complete-game four-hitter in the opening game of the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team's doubleheader against Concordia.
 
Unfortunately, the Cardinals could not provide Green with any offensive support, as Concordia scored the game's only run in the bottom of the second inning in dealing Saint Mary's a 1-0 setback.
 
The Cardinals were much more generous to their Game 2 pitchers, erupting for eight runs—including five in the sixth inning—as Saint Mary's earned the split with an 8-3 victory.
 
Saint Mary's appeared to get off to a solid start in the opening, getting back-to-back singles by Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.) and Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.) to open the first inning, but a double play and a strikeout ended the threat—and the Cardinal offense never could get back on track.
 
 And while Green was doing his part in stifling the Concordia offensive attack, Ty Syverson was putting together a mirror image performance on the mound for the Cobbers.
 
After surrendering the two first-inning singles, Syverson would limit Saint Mary's to single hits in the second and third innings, before setting down the Cardinals in order in each of the last four innings.
 
Concordia nicked Green for a run in the second inning, parlaying two Cardinal errors and two hits—including a Swanson RBI single—into the game's only run.
 
Seegers, Tepp, Dixon Irwin (Plover, Wis.), and Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.)—the top four hitters in the Cardinal batting order—all had one hit to account for SMU's four hits against Syverson. Green, meanwhile, did not walk a batter and struck out one in recording his third straight complete game.
 
Saint Mary's got off to a quick start in the nightcap, taking advantage of a Cobber error and a Connor Cornell (Plymouth, Minn.) RBI single to score a pair of unearned runs and grab a 2-0 lead after the first inning.
 
 The Cardinals pushed their lead to 3-0 on a Tepp run-scoring double in the third, but Concordia knotted things up, 3-3, with a solo run in the bottom of the third and two more in the fourth.
 
Saint Mary's then took the lead for good, scoring five runs on five hits—including an RBI single by Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn.) and a pair of two-run singles off the bats of Tepp and Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.)—to give the Cardinals an 8-3 advantage.
 
Kodey Kiel (Owatonna, Minn.) picked up the pitching win, tossing three innings of scoreless, hitless relief of start Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.), who allowed three runs on four hits through the game's first four innings.
 
Tepp and Seegers each had two hits in the nightcap—with Tepp also driving in three runs—with Cornell, Weinberg, Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.), and Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) all chipping in one hit.
 
The Cardinals (9-3 MIAC, 15-12 overall) return to action on Tuesday, hosting Saint John's in a 2:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader at Max Molock Field. Saint Mary's will then entertain Augsburg in another 2:30 p.m. conference twinbill the following day.