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Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Athletics

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF SAINT MARY'S UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CARDINAL ATHLETICS

Baseball

GameDay Online vs. Finlandia

Thursday, April 23, 2009 / Max Molock Field * Winona, Minn. / 2:30 p.m.

vs.
finlandia09

Saint Mary's Cardinals
  5-25 Overall
  Finlandia Lions
   2-15 Overall

Listen Live / Live In-Game Statistics / GameDay Online / Media Notebook

Last Action: The Cardinals couldn't not shut down St. Olaf's high-powered offense Tuesday, as the Oles handed SMU 13-1 and 15-6 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setbacks at Max Molock Field. … Finlandia, meanwhile, kicked off a six-game-in-three-day stretch on Wednesday, taking on Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Last Meeting: Today's nonconference doubleheader is the first-ever meeting between the Cardinals and the Lions.

Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: Zach Olberding (Maplewood, Minn.) went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored in Game 2 vs. the Oles Tuesday. SMU was held to just four singles in the opener. … Olberding's 3-for-3 effort was his second collegiate three-hit game. The SMU sophomore also went 3-for-3 in Game 2 vs. Monmouth on March 13. … Brandon Haugh (Easton, Minn.) played three different positions in Game 2 vs. the Oles, starting at second, moving to third, and pitching the final two-thirds of the seventh inning. Haugh, who had never pitched collegiately, allowed one hit, while walking one and striking out one. … Tyler Kruse (Minneapolis, Minn.), who had collected two hits in each of his last five games — earning MIAC Player of the Week honors in the process — had his two-hit games streak snapped with a 1-for-3 effort in Game 1 vs. St. Olaf, but the SMU senior extended his career-best hitting streak to seven straight with a single in Game 1 and a double in Game 2. … Olberding, who finished 4-for-6 vs. the Oles, has hit safely in 22 of the 26 games he's played this year. Olberding also leads the team with 10 multiple-hit games, while Kruse is the team-leader with five multiple-RBI contests. … Jack Dwyer (Minneapolis, Minn.) posted his first collegiate three-hit game in the opener vs. the Royals, going 3-for-3 with his first home run as a Cardinal. Dwyer then picked up his first collegiate pitching win in Game 2. … With his two-run home run in the sixth inning of Game 1, Dwyer became the fifth SMU player to hit his first collegiate home run this season. Kruse (vs. Gustavus), Ryan Archambault (Faribault, Minn. / vs. Augsburg), Olberding (vs. Monmouth), and Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn. / vs. Monmouth) are the other four. All nine of SMU's home runs have been hit by players with a combined total of zero home runs prior to this season. … Olberding leads the team in batting average (.400), hits (34), home runs (3), RBIs (17), and slugging percentage (.571). …  Kyle Ryan (St. Paul, Minn.) boasts team highs in at-bats (98) and stolen bases (12), while Kruse is the team leader in triples (3) and extra-base hits (10), while ranking second to Olberding with a .342 batting average. … The Cardinals have stolen 30 bases this season. … Andy Pass (Prescott, Wis.) tossed his team-laeding second complete game of the season in Game 1 vs. SJU on April 15, allowing just five hits and two earned runs, while striking out four. Pass also leads the team with 27.2 innings pitched and 19 strikeouts. … The Cardinals' Game 2 win over Bethel last Saturday snapped a pair of streaks — SMU's season-high 17-game losing streak and its 13-game MIAC winless streak — while also giving coach Nick Winecke his first conference coaching win. … SMU's 8-7 loss to Saint John's on April 15 was its sixth one-run loss of the season. The Cardinals are now 2-6 in one-run games and 0-3 in extra-inning affairs. SMU's last extra-inning win came on April 26, 2008, when the Cardinals dropped Buena Vista 7-6 in eight innings. …  SMU has surrendered 39 first-inning runs — including five vs. the Oles on Tuesday — and is 1-14 when its opponent scores in the first inning. … SMU has scored six of more runs in all five of their wins. The Cardinals are 1-21 when being held to five runs or less.

Finlandia Lion Notes: The Lions have faced one other MIAC team this season, falling to Augsburg 18-1 and 13-2 on March 29 in the Metrodome. … Finlandia entered Wednesday's DH against Milwaukee School of Engineering have dropped 10 straight, including a 5-4, 13-inning setback vs. Northland on April 15. … The Lions have surrendered 10 or more runs in 13 of their 15 losses, including a 26-10 loss to Carroll and a 22-0 setback vs. Cardinal Stritch. … Ben LaCombe is the team's offensive leader, boasting team highs in batting average (.302), runs (7), hits (16), doubles (3) and triples (1). … Lee Naugle boasts a team-best 13 RBIs, while also leading the squad in total bases (26) and slugging percentage (.491). … Nine of the team's 15 players have thrown at least one inning. … Finlandia has combined for fewer than 10 runs in every inning but the first, where the Lions have been outscored 26-11.

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