COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — Yogi Berra coined the phrase, "It's never over, 'til it's over," — and Thursday afternoon, the Saint Mary's University baseball team proved just how right he was.

The Cardinals scored all 11 runs — including four in the eighth inning — as SMU posted an 11-7 victory to complete its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep of St. John's. The Cardinals, fueled by an eight-run first inning, opened the doubleheader by beating the Johnnies 12-8.

"It was one of the most amazing and enjoyable days I've ever had on a baseball field," said SMU coach Nick Whaley, whose team snapped a three-game losing streak with the Game 1 victory. "It was just an unbelievable day — the guys never gave up once, they just kept battling.

"To score 11 runs with two outs, that just shows the determination of this team."

The Cardinals fell behind 6-2 after three innings of the second game — scoring their two runs on a Ryan Majerus (St. Charles, Minn.) two-run double in the top of the third — and still trailed by four heading into the top of the sixth.

SMU cut the lead to 6-4 on pinch-hit RBI singles by Satoshi Hayashi (Winona, Minn.) and David Krieger (Mendota Heights, Minn.), then took a 7-6 advantage into the bottom of the seventh as Mark Pederson (Lexington, Minn.) delivered a two-run single to right and Pat Jacobsen (Stillwater, Minn.) added an RBI single to left.

SJU tied the game in the bottom of the seventh, but SMU was just getting started, as the Cardinals erupted for four eighth-inning runs — fueled by a three-run double by Dan Cosgrove (South St. Paul, Minn.) — to seal the win.

"It was a great win," said Whaley, noting that Cosgrove not only went 2-for-3 with three RBIs in Game 2, but also pitched four-plus innings of relief — relying on a knuckleball that was virtually untouchable. "Cos pitched great — he came in (in the bottom of the third) and did a great job. His pitching gave us a chance to win, and his bat (in the eighth) got us the win."

Cosgrove swung a hot bat in the opener as well, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs — giving him seven RBIs and five hits in seven at-bats.

SMU jumped on the Johnnies early, and often, scoring a season-high eight runs in the opening inning. The Cardinals added two more in the second, then iced the win with a pair of runs in the sixth on a two-run single by Cosgrove.

"It was great to come out and score eight (runs) like we did, but sometimes when you get out a big lead like that, you can let your guard down a bit," Whaley said. "We didn't do that — we just battled the whole day.

"It was great."