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2005 Record: 0-0 MIAC, 2-0 Overall
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| Last Week's Results: Saint Mary's 3, Valley City State 2 / Details Saint Mary's 9, Valley City State 4 / Details |
| Upcoming Games: Port Charlotte, Fla., Tournament Sun., March 20: vs. Albertus Magnus, 2 p.m. Mon., March 21: vs. Mass. College, Noon Wed., March 23: vs. Hope, 3 p.m. Thurs., March 24: Bowdoin, Noon Fri., March 25: W. Connecticut, 11:30 a.m. Fr., March 25: vs. Elmhurst, 3 p.m. |
| This and That: SMU's back-to-back wins over Valley City State last Thursday marks the first time the Cardinals have opened the season with two straight wins since 2000, when they topped U. of Dallas (8-2) and Hillside Baptist (21-2). … Matt Rink (Rochester, Minn.) hit the Cardinals' first HR of the season when he delivered a two-run shot on the first pitch of his first at-bat of the season vs. the Vikings. … Nick Winecke (St. Paul, Minn.) went 4-for-8 with two triples during SMU's two games vs. Valley City State. … Rink, who went 3-for-6 vs. VCS, also led the team with three RBIs and three runs scored. … Jesse Pedersen (St. Charles, Minn.) and Matt Popek (Eagan, Minn.) each pitched five innings in their first starts of the year. Pedersen allowed one earned run on three hits and struck out six, while Popek gave up six hits and one earned run in winning Game 2. … David Reiter (Elgin, Minn.) earned the pitching win in Game 1 with two innings of hitless relief. … As a team, SMU collected 18 hits — six for extra-bases — vs. Valley City State. … SMU's ERA vs. the Vikings was 1.28. |
perfect way for Cardinals to kick off the 2005 season
WINONA, Minn. — If Nick Whaley learned anything from his team's season-opening doubleheader against Valley City State, it's that the Saint Mary's University baseball team is a bunch of night owls.
Despite their late-night starting time — 9:45 p.m., to be exact — the Cardinals kicked off their season with a pair of wins last Thursday night/Friday morning, beating Valley City State 3-2 and 9-4.
"It was a great start for us," said Whaley. "The first game was very impressive — we were crisp and sharp and played very well. The second game was a little more ragged, but we battled through it."
Jesse Pedersen (St. Charles, Minn.) and David Reiter (Elgin, Minn.) combined on a three-hitter in the opener. Pedersen went the first five innings, allowing two runs on three hits with six strikeouts, with Reiter coming on in the fifth to pitch two innings of scoreless ball to pick up the win.
Matt Rink (Rochester, Minn.) opened the scoring in the top of the first with a first-pitch, two-run home run to left. SMU then won it in the seventh when Jose Rueda (Winona, Minn.) led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Danny Fiorentino (Chicago, Ill.) and scored on a single by Kevin Black (Mahtomedi, Minn.).
Matt Popek (Eagan, Minn.) earned the pitching win in Game 2, going five innings and allowing two earned runs on six hits. Nick Winecke (St. Paul, Minn.) led SMU's 11-hit offensive attack, going 3-for-4 with two triples and an RBI. Rink and Brady Knudsen both 2-for-3, with Knudsen driving in a pair of runs.
"It's always nice to get off to a strong start like that," said Whaley. "I thought we did a very nice job considering it was our first time out. The pitchers did a nice job and offensively we got some big hits in clutch situations — which was nice to see."
Even if it was through bloodshot eyes.