By
DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
AUBURNDALE, Fla. — Fresh off an 11-run offensive outburst in beating No. 14 St. John Fisher, the Saint Mary's University baseball team found itself in another 11-run game Wednesday against Fontbonne.
This one, however, wasn't nearly as enjoyable.
Fontbonne erupted for seven runs in the eighth inning, breaking open a one-run game and leading the Griffins to an 11-2 win over the Cardinals in the teams' nine-inning spring trip contest.
After three scoreless innings, the Cardinals finally broke the ice in the bottom of the fourth, getting a lead-off double from
Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) and a one-out RBI single from
Kodey Kiel (Owatonna, Minn.) for a 1-0 Saint Mary's lead.
From there, however, the Griffins' offense took over.
Fontbonne scored twice in the seventh, taking advantage of a pair of Saint Mary's errors, before erupting for seven runs on four hits — including a grand slam home run by Braeden Dobbs — to take a commanding 9-1 advantage.
Saint Mary's plated its second run in the bottom of the eighth — with Weinberg once again doing the scoring, after a lead-off triple, and Kiel producing the RBI hit, another one-out single — but Fontbonne tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth to seal the win.
Weinberg and Kiel sparked the Cardinal offense — combining for five of Saint Mary's eight hits, both runs and both RBIs. Weinberg finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Kiel went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in.
Tyler O'Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn.),
Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.), and
Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn.) collected the Cardinals' other three hits.
Jonathan Cieminski (Fountain City, Wis.) tossed six innings of scoreless, six hit ball in a no-decision for the Cardinals. The senior walked one and struck out six before giving way to the bullpen in the top of the seventh.
The Cardinals (2-3 overall) are now off until Friday, when they square off against Ohio Northern in a spring trip doubleheader. Opening pitch in Game 1 is set for 9:45 a.m. EST.
