WINONA, Minn. — After winning six of their first seven games — including their last three during their five-game trip to Port Charlotte, Fla. — the Saint Mary's University baseball team got a reality check in their first game of a nonconference doubleheader against Luther last Sunday afternoon.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 3-0 first-inning lead — thanks to a three-run home run by Matt Rink (Rochester, Minn.) — but the Norse weren't impressed, as Luther scored twice in the first, three times in the second, once in the third, four times in the fifth and three times in the sixth in handing SMU a 13-5 setback.

Enter the check on the Cardinals' reality.

Which Cardinal team would take the field for Game 2 — the one that won six of its first seven games, or the one that suffered its most lopsided loss of the season?

It took six innings to get the desired answer, but answer the Cardinals did as they scored six times in the top of the sixth — two on an RBI single by Ryan Majerus (St. Charles, Minn.) — as SMU rallied from a 5-0 deficit to beat the Norse 8-5 and earn the split.

"(Luther) beat us soundly in the first game — they are a very good team and they took it to us," said SMU coach Nick Whaley. "But we stuck with it. Even when we were down 5-0 (in the second game) we never let down, we hung in there and eventually the game came back to us.

"I think what pleased me more than anything was the way we battled through the tough times and never gave up," continued Whaley, whose team heads into Wednesday's MIAC opener at home against Gustavus with a 7-2 overall mark. "Even if we hadn't come back to win that second game I would have been happy with our performance, because of the way we hung together."

The Cardinals managed just eight hits in the opener, two off the bats of Majerus and Nick Winecke (St. Paul, Minn.), while Luther tagged SMU starter Dan Cosgrove (South St. Paul, Minn.) for 12 hits and 10 earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. Tim Kreiser (Mendota Heights, Minn.) didn't fare much better in his 1 1/3 innings of work, as Luther scored three times on three hits.

Through the first three innings of the nightcap, it looked like more of the same as the Norse scored five runs — one in the second and four in the third — off SMU starter David Reiter (Elgin, Minn.).

It was then, however, that SMU showed its resiliency, as the Cardinals clawed back with a pair of runs in the fourth — one on a Cosgrove double and the other on a Brady Knudsen (Racine, Wis.) groundout — then took the lead for good with six runs in the sixth.

Krieger drove in one run with a one-out single, Brandon Verbout (Rochester, Minn. .) drew a bases-loaded walk, Kevin Black (Mahtomedi, Minn.) drove in another with a single and, after Winecke struck out for the second out, Majerus delivered a two-run single and Rink singled in the sixth run to complete the Cardinals' comeback.

Jesse Pedersen (St. Charles, Minn.) earned the pitching win, throwing one inning of scoreless relief, while Mike Mitchell (Mound, Minn.) picked up the save by striking out two of the six Luther batters he faced over the final two innings.

"It's a long season and a lot can happen, but I've been very happy with what I've seen thus far from this team," said Whaley. "If there's one thing I've learned, it's that this team will not give up — no matter how bad things may appear, they're going to battle to the end."