AUBURNDALE, Fla. (Duhawks.com) - Loras opened the 2015 campaign on Thursday with a doubleheader split against Saint Mary's. In a tale of two games, the Duhawks used late-inning heroics in game one to come away with a 6-5 win, while the bats fell silent in a 1-0 loss in game two.

With senior Will Petrosky on the mound for the season opener, the Cardinals jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on two hits. Jon Schlemmer took the first pitch he saw and sent it to the left-center gap, plating two.

In their half of the first, sophomore Cole Reeg kickstarted the comeback with a stand-up triple down the right field line. Back-to-back singles from seniors Spence Bonner and Anthony Flattery plated two to cut Saint Mary's lead to one. The rally came to an end after sophomore Luke Leibforth grounded into a double play.

After quiet innings in the second and third, the Cardinals offense picked back up in the fourth thanks to a double to left field by Jake Barry.

Trailing 4-2, back-to-back singles from Bonner and Flattery for the second time in the game paved the way for a sacrifice bunt opportunity for Leibforth. An errant throw from Ben Johnson allowed Leibforth to reach, loading the bases for senior Adam Kennedy.

Kennedy blasted Johnson's offering into left center field, scoring Bonner and Flattery to tie the game at four.

After scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh, Saint Mary's turned the game over to their closer to bring home the win.

Leading off the bottom of the seventh, Kennedy took the first pitch he saw from Jake Merkle and skied it over the left field wall to tie the game at five.



Loras threatened to win in the bottom of the eighth, but a double play ball turned by Saint Mary's with the bases loaded kept the sides level at five.

After sophomore Nolan Ritter reached base to lead off the bottom of the ninth, Loras loaded the bases to bring Flattery to the plate with two outs. With a 1-1 count, Flattery sent the offering from Austin Jacobs into right field to score Ritter from third.

Game two showcased a very different style of baseball as both teams struggled from the plate. Junior Alex Steines made his first start in a Duhawk uniform and kept the Cardinal batters in check for five innings, allowing one hit while recording five strikeouts.

Both teams threatened at times to break the scoreless tie, but in the end, it came down to a leadoff single by Ben Buerkle. After reaching base, Buerkle was bunted over to second by Schlemmer. With one out, Drew Denning was brought on to pinch hit for Jake Menacci.

With two outs and a runner at second, Denning sent the offering from Schreck to freshman Dan Pecoraro at short, but junior Patrick Walsh was unable to pick the throw out of the dirt, allowing Buerkle to score from second and give the Cardinals their first lead of the game.

Down their last three outs, the Duhawks went quietly in the top of the seventh, falling 1-0 and splitting the doubleheader with Saint Mary's.

The Duhawks take on MSOE on Friday with first pitch scheduled for 2:30 p.m.