MIAMI, Fla. — Saint Mary's University baseball coach Nick Whaley knew exactly what his team was getting into when the Cardinals took the field against St. Thomas (Fla.) University Tuesday evening.

"They willl be the best team we've played in the six years I've been here," Whaley said before the game.

Nine innings, 11 hits and 10 runs later, and the Bobcats proved Whaley's prediction correct, as STU used a pair of four-run innings and a key fourth-inning error en route to a 10-6 victory over the Cardinals.

"It was a great night of baseball," Whaley said. "We played very, very well, we just ran up against an extremely talented team — by far the best team we've play since I've been here."

Which says a lot for the way the Cardinals played.

The Bobcats tagged SMU starter Aric Kittelson (Prescott, Wis.) for a pair of runs in the first inning, but SMU countered with a single run in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly from Rob Kimlinger (Lake Elmo, Minn.).

St. Thomas appeared to regain complete control in the bottom of the third, scoring four times to take a 6-2 advantage.

But again the Cardinals answered right back, scoring twice in the top of the fourth to cut the STU lead to 6-4. Matt Domarus (Woodbury, Minn.) led off the inning with an infield single, moved to second on a one-out walk by Dusty Wilhelmy (Mendota Heights, Minn.) . A two-out walk to Greg Sears (Webster, Wis.) loaded the bases and Aaron Smolinski (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and Tony Cicalello (St. Paul, Minn.) followed with back-to-back RBI singles.

"I was extremely proud of the way we kept battling all game," said Whaley, whose team dropped to 1-6 overall with the loss, the fourth straight. "Everytime (STU) scored, we answered right back."

Problem was, when STU scored four, SMU could only respond with two in return.

Leading 6-4, St. Thomas padded its lead to 10-4 in the bottom of the fourth, scoring all four runs following a two-out error by Kimlinger — including three on a bases-loaded double by John Parrado.

That was all the offensive the Bobcats would muster, however, as SMU relievers Chuck Wright (Winona, Minn.) and Nate Weinandt (Wabasha, Minn.) allowed just two hits — a leadoff single in the sixth and a lead-off double in the seventh — over the final four innings.

SMU meanwhile, plated two runs in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Wilhelmy and a sacrifice fly by Matt Rink (Wnona, Minn.), then scored another in the top of the sixth on a bases-loaded walk to Ryan Majerus (St. Charles, Minn.).

"This was a fun game to be a part of — great baseball against a great team," said Whaley, noting that the Bobcats, who improved to 23-7 overall, are ranked in the top 10 in NAIA Division I. "This is what baseball is all about."