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| 2007 Records: 4-14 MIAC, 8-21 Overall |
| Recent Results: Bethel 10, Saint Mary's 3 / Details Bethel 15, Saint Mary's 14 / Details Saint Mary's 4, Hamline 3 / Details Hamline 6, Saint Mary's 3 / Details |
| Upcoming Games: Wed., May 2: Concordia at SMU, 1:00 |
| Cardinal News and Notes: The Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak with their Game 1 victory over Hamline Saturday. … Saturday's second-game loss to the Pipers — in which Hamline scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie — marked the sixth time this season SMU has led or been tied in the seventh, and lost. … Hamline's three, Game 1 runs were the fewest allowed by SMU since Augsburg plated three in a 3-2 Auggie win on April 13. … SMU's four runs vs. the Pipers in the opener were the fewest in a Cardinal win since beating Framingham State 4-3 in the first game of a doubleheader sweep on March 17. … SMU's 14 runs in its 15-14, Game 2 loss vs. Bethel on Tuesday were the most in a losing effort since a 17-14 setback vs. Winona State in 1984. … Cardinal pitchers surrendered six home runs vs. Bethel — including four in the Game 2 slugfest. … Brandon Haugh (Easton, Minn.) posted the Cardinals' first five-hit game of the season, going a perfect 5-for-5 with a pair of doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored in the Game 2 loss vs. Bethel. … Pete Bissen (Fairmont, Minn.) launched his first collegiate home run vs. Bethel. … Thirteen of SMU's 14 runs in Game 2 vs. the Royals came in three innings — a five-run third, a four-run fourth and a four-run seventh. … Brady Knudsen (Racine, Wis.) went 5-for-7 with four runs scored vs. the Royals. The SMU junior has scored 14 runs in SMU's last 10 games. … Nick Winecke (St. Paul, Minn.) — who had at least one hit in all four games last week, and has now reached base safely in 27 of SMU's 29 games — is the team-leader in average (.372), runs (26), doubles (11), triples (1), slugging percentage (.558) and walks (17). … Knudsen, meanwhile, is the team leader in hits (36), RBIs (19) and total bases (49. … Both Winecke and Knudsen enter Wednesday's finale riding five-game hitting streaks. … Knudsen leads the team with 10 multiple-hit games, while Haugh is the team-leader in multiple-RBI games with six. … The Cardinals are now 6-3 when leading after six innings and 1-17 when trailing after six. SMU has given up 24 seventh-inning runs. … SMU has been outscored 32-4 in the second inning. |
Cardinals' 4-3 win, 6-3 loss to Hamline in twinbill
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Nick
Winecke Team-leading .372 BA, 26 R 11 2Bs, 17 BB |
Why should Saturday be any different?
It was — and, it wasn't.
With the Cardinals clinging to a one-run, 4-3 advantage in the top of the seventh in Game 1, SMU starter David Baker (Monticello, Minn.) gave up a one-out walk to the PIpers' Sam Wiener — and Whaley must have been thinking, "Oh, no, here we go again."
Instead, Baker induced a pair of ground ball outs to preserve SMU's 4-3 Game 1 victory.
In the nightcap, the Cardinals once again found themselves in a seventh-inning, 3-3, nailbiter.
And, for the second straight time, the Pipers put a runner on with one out, as Dan Kaczrowski doubled to left — and, again, Whaley must have been thinking, "Oh, no, here we go again."
Unfortunately, this time, his worst fears were again realized, as Josh Roiger belted a two-out, three-run home run, to lift the Pipers to the 6-3 victory, and the conference split at Max Molock Field.
"It's a tough way to lose a ball game, especially when your team plays as well as we did," said Whaley, whose Cardinals did snap a four-game losing streak with their Game 1 victory. "I told the guys after the game, 'you just played in two outstanding college baseball games.' We just seem to be snake-bit when it comes to holding leads late in the game. It was great to see David (Baker) work himself out of that jam in the seventh in the first game — that was a win these guys deserved.
"And in the second game, we had our chances, we just made one bad pitch, and (Hamline) made us pay for it," continued Whaley. "Hamline's contending for a playoff spot, so for us to take them to the limit twice — and come away with one of two — I'm pretty happy about that."
The Cardinals gave Baker an early 2-0 lead in the opener, scoring a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning, but the Pipers responded with two runs of their own in the top of the second to knot the game at 2-2. The two teams traded third-inning runs, before SMU took the lead for good on a sacrifice fly by Nick Winecke (St. Paul, Minn.) in the bottom of the fifth.
Hamline drew first blood in the nightcap, scoring once in the top of the third, before SMU erupted for three runs in the bottom of the fourth to grab a 3-1 advantage. The PIpers plated single runs in the fifth and sixth to tie the game — and set up Roiger's seventh-inning heroics.
"The toughest part of (Saturday's DH) was the way that second game ended," said Whaley, whose team closes out its season on Wednesday, playing host to Concordia in a conference doubleheader. "These guys battled from the first pitch of the first game, to the last pitch of the second — and while it's disappointing to lose a game like that, the guys should feel good about the way they played."