At the time, St. Mary's probably didn't realize the significance of the three-run first inning it put together against Mandan on Tuesday.

Turns out, it was the difference in the game. That, and pitcher Matt Loomis.

The Saints rode that productive first inning and Loomis' six-hit pitching to a 4-2 victory over the Braves in a West Region baseball game played at Bismarck's Municipal Ballpark. Later, St. Mary's put 15 runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning en route to a 15-0 victory in the non-region contest.

"It's always good jumping out to a nice lead," said St. Mary's coach Kent Schweigert, whose team improved its region mark to 2-0. "That's what you want to do in any sport. You want to set the tone … force the other team to play catchup."

The Saints wasted little time in Tuesday's opener. Cody Erhardt drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the first and the next batter, Matt Chuppe, was hit by a pitch. Then, Mandan pitcher Brian Borr threw wildly to first in an attempt to pick off Chuppe. By the time the Braves got the ball back to the infield, Erhardt had scored and Chuppe advanced to third. Drew Eichele then flied out to medium-deep center, scoring Chuppe.

One out later, Zach Klabo singled, D.J. Schmitz walked and Jon Herold plated Klabo with a single.

In the bottom of the second, Tom Seifert led off with a double and scored with two outs on Eichele's single.

"Borr was a little wild early on and we took advantage of that," Schweigert said. "The big thing is we got three two-out hits in the first and second that scored a couple of runs. It's always good to see that timely hitting."

The second inning is where the hitting stopped for St. Mary's. Borr settled down after Eichele's single and pitched perfect ball the rest of the way. He retired the last 13 batters he faced.

"Brian had a tough time finding the plate and it came back to haunt him," Mandan coach Dewitt Mack said. "But then he found his grove and pitched well. He pitched well enough to win, but we couldn't help him out at the plate."

Enter Loomis.

The senior right-hander improved to 2-0 with his first complete-game win of the season. Loomis, who pitched six shutout innings in a 6-2 victory over Bismarck on April 17, started strong, mowing down the first eight Mandan batters before Jason Mellmer doubled with two out in the top of the third inning. Jared Muth followed with a single, but Loomis kept the Braves off the scoreboard by getting Andrew Tweet to ground out to the shortstop.

Loomis couldn't do the same in the fourth.

See Saints, Page 4D

He issued two walks and gave up back-to-back two-out RBI singles to Borr and Tony Fleck before ending the frame with a strikeout.

After that, Loomis allowed one baserunner in each of the last three innings, but only one got past first base. That runner was doubled off second after Chuppe, the St. Mary's second baseman, speared a line drive off the bat of Brandon Leingang in the fifth inning.

"I sort of lost my location halfway through," said Loomis, who walked three and struck out six. "I left a lot of pitches up and that's not good. But I worked my way through it. The defense was a big help, too. As always, they played well behind me."

Loomis said the three-run first inning gave him a shot of confidence.

"It takes some pressure off you as a pitcher, that's for sure," he said. "It was the same against BHS when we scored six in the second. Working with an early lead like that allows you a little more room for error."

In the nightcap, which ended after 2½ frames, the Saints sent 21 batters to the plate in the first inning while scoring five runs on base hits, six on bases-loaded walks, two on wild pitches, one on a hit batter with the bases loaded and one on an error. St. Mary's had just four hits in the inning, but drew 11 walks and had two batters who were hit by pitches.

Schmitz drove in two runs with a double and another with a single. Stefan Ming and Klabo each had an RBI single.

Schmitz also took care of the pitching, allowing just one hit while walking one and striking out three in three innings.

St. Mary's 4, Mandan 2

Mandan 000 200 0 - 2 6 1

St. Mary's 310 000 x - 4 4 0

Brian Borr and Jason Mellmer. Matt Loomis and Drew Eichele. W - Loomis. L - Borr. HR - None.

Highlights: M - Borr 6 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 SO, 1-for-3, RBI. Jared Muth 2-for-4. Tony Fleck 2-for-3, RBI. SM - Loomis 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 SO. Eichele 1-for-2, 2 RBIs. Zach Klabo 1-for-3, R. Jon Herold 1-for-3, RBI. Tom Seifert 1-for-2, 2B, R.

St. Mary's 15, Mandan 0, 3 innings

Mandan 000 - 0 1 1

St. Mary's (15)0x - 15 4 0

Tony Fleck, Jason Mellmer (1), Taylor Volk (1), Reid Jungling (2) and Steven Serr. D.J. Schmitz and Zach Klabo. W - Schmitz. L - Fleck.

Highlights: Mandan - Sam Salveson 2B. SM - Schmitz 3 IP, H, BB, 3 SO, 2-for-2, 2B, 3 RBIs. Klabo 1-for-1, 2 R, RBI. Stefan Ming 1-for-2, 2 R, RBI.

Records: St. Mary's 4-2 overall, 2-0 West Region. Mandan 2-8, 1-4.