HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Just when Saint Mary's University baseball coach Nick Whaley thought his team had turned the corner, the Cardinals took a giant step backwards Wednesday afternoon, as SMU — fresh off an 8-4 win over Ramapo (N.J.) — dropped a disappointing 4-1 decision to Colby-Sawyer in the team's final spring trip game.

"That game doesn't reflect the progress we have made this week — but it also shows that you have to come to the ball field ready to play every game," said SMU coach Nick Whaley. "After the way we played last night (against St. Thomas University in a 10-6 loss) and in the first game today (against Ramapo), the Colby game was disappointing because it was the first game this spring where we may not have gotten better."

The Cardinals spotted Colby-Sawyer a run in the first inning on a one-out double by Ryan Chambers. SMU retaliated with a solo run in the top of the second on an RBI single by Seth Pugh (Crystal, Minn.).

The deadlock was short-lived, however, as Colby-Sawyer scored used three hits and a pair of SMU errors to score twice in the bottom of the second and scored its fourth run on a leadoff double and a one-out single in the bottom of the sixth.

"I'm sure the heat of the day had something to do with the way we played," admitted Whaley, whose team played the two games in 85-degree heat. "But you certainly can't use that as an excuse. Both teams had to play in the heat, we just didn't play as well as we are capable of playing, plain and simple."

The Cardinals certainly played up to their capabilities in their first game of the day, getting a 3-for-4 performance from Rob Kimlinger ((Lake Elmo, Minn.), and a pair of hits from Eric Froistad (North St. Paul, Minn.), Ryan Majerus (St. Charles, Minn.) and Tony Cicalello (St. Paul, Minn.) in snapping their four-game losing streak.

After spotting Ramapo a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, SMU used a three-run third to take a 3-1 advantage. A leadoff walk by Aaron Smolinski (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and back-to-back singles by Cicalello and Kimlinger accounted for one run, while Majerus and Froistad delivered two-out infield singles to account for the Cardinals' other two runs.

Ramapo knotted the game at three in the bottom of the third, but SMU again responded, scoring twice in the fourth (on an RBI groundout and a fielder's choice), once in the sixth (on a Kimlinger RBI single), and twice in the seventh (on RBI doubles by Froistad and Al Wurtzberger (New Ulm, Minn.) ).

"We had a great week down here, and we can't let this last game cast a dark cloud over everything else we've done this week," said Whaley, whose team returns to action on Monday at home against Winona State. "But we also need to realize that we've still got a lot of work to do — and (the Colby-Sawyer game) is a perfect example of that."