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Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com

Published - Sunday, April 27, 2008

College roundup: Cardinals regroup to split nonconference twinbill

By Winona Daily News staff

STORM LAKE, Iowa — One negative streak came to an end and one positive streak continued Saturday for the St. Mary’s University baseball team.

The Cardinals split a nonconference doubleheader with Buena Vista, falling 4-3 in Game 1 before winning the second game 7-6.

In the nightcap, Brady Knudsen hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning, extending his career-best hitting streak to 21 games and evening the score at 6-6.

Buena Vista committed three errors in the eighth inning — one on a grounder by Andrew Warren that allowed the eventual winning run to score and helped the Cardinals snap their eight-game losing streak.

It was simply a reversal of roles from the first game.

In the opener, the Beavers scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on a ball lost in the sun.

“It was nice to get that win (in Game 2), but in the same respect, we feel like we let the first game slip away from us, too,” SMU coach Nick Whaley said. “We played well enough to win — got great pitching, played well defensively and were pretty solid at the plate.”

The seven runs the Cardinals scored in the nightcap were the most since their last win — a 15-5 victory over Carleton on April 14. The total was also more than the Cardinals scored over their last doubleheader, in which they were outscored 30-6 and swept at St. Olaf.

“We needed to come away with a win — we played too well not to win at least one game. Hopefully we can carry that momentum into a strong showing in the final week of the season.”

Women’s golf

Okoboji Invitational

OKOBOJI, Iowa — Courtney Sovereign and Hilary Botten each shot an 85 to lead the Winona State University women’s golf team to a fifth-place standing after the first of two rounds.

The Warriors shot a 345 at the par-72 Spencer Country Club and trail first-place Upper Iowa by 17 strokes.

“The conditions were really rough, but the girls persevered and played pretty well,” WSU coach Erika Vail said. “The wind was at a constant 20 mph with gusts up to 40 mph, so finishing in the mid-80s was a good score.”

Megan Placko shot an 86, and Tera Christensen posted an 89 for WSU.

Baseball

Upper Iowa 9, WSU 4,

Upper Iowa 8, WSU 1

FAYETTE, Iowa — Joe Kley went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the first game to lead WSU. The Warriors struggled to contain Upper Iowa’s offense, as the second place team in the league dominated.

In the first game, WSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Brett Maxwell scored on a passed ball, and Jared Anderson had an RBI single. UIU scored four runs in the bottom of the frame to take control.

In the sixth inning, Ben Smothers and Sam Henriksen both scored off Kley’s RBI double, but it wasn’t enough.

In the second game, it was Upper Iowa’s defense that was the problem. The Warriors managed only three hits against UIU. Ben Bradley scored the lone run for WSU in the seventh inning.

WSU (19-16, 14-12) currently stands in fifth place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The top six teams will participate in the NSIC tournament.