WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University baseball, coming off a pair of losses at St. Olaf in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener on Saturday, steps out of conference play on Monday, playing host to Luther in the Cardinals' home opener at Max Molock Field. First pitch is slated for 2:30 p.m.
The Teams:
Saint Mary's Cardinals: 6-12 Overall
Last Action:
The Cardinals could not cool off the red-hot bats of St. Olaf on Saturday, as the Oles pounded out 41 hits and scored 33 runs en route to a wins of
19-13 and
15-1 in the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener. Luther, meanwhile, dropped all three Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games against Buena Vista Friday and Saturday, falling
13-9,
3-1 and
11-2 in Decorah, Iowa.
Last Meeting — April 13, 2009:
The Norse got the best of the Cardinals in their nonconference doubleheader a year ago, winning
8-3 and
6-5 in Decorah, Iowa
Saint Mary's Cardinals Around The Horn:
Zach Olberding (Maplewood, Minn.) posted his first collegiate five-hit game in Game 1 vs. St. Olaf on Saturday, as the Cardinal senior was a perfect 5-for-5 with two RBIs and a pair of runs scored. … Olberding's effort was the first time this season an SMU player has had more than three hits in a game. …
Andrew Warren (Stillwater, Minn.),
Jake Lechner (Shoreview, Minn.) and Daniel Geraghty (Chicago, Ill.) each chipped in two hits on the opener vs. St. Olaf. Warren's and Lechner's two hits were doubles. …
Kyle Ryan (St. Paul, Minn.) had two of SMU's four hits in Game 2 vs. St. Olaf Saturday. …
Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.), who delivered one of SMU's seven Game 1 doubles vs. the Oles, had his season- and career-high 11-game hitting streak snapped in Game 2. … With his 5-for-5 Game 1 effort, Olberding pushed his team-leading batting average to .356. … Swanson, meanwhile, boasts team highs in hits (18), home runs (2), RBIs (19), total bases (30) and slugging percentage (.444). … Ryan leads the team in at-bats (62), runs (12) and stolen bases (11-for-11). … Half of Warren's 16 hits have resulted in doubles. … SMU surrendered five runs in the first inning of both games vs. St. Olaf and the Cardinals have now been outscored 22-8 in the first inning.
Luther Norse Around The Horn:
After opening the season with eight wins in their first 11 games, the Norse have gone 2-6 in their last eight — with all six losses coming in conference play. … Luther has surrendered 10 or more runs in four of its nine losses, while scoring 10 or more runs in five of its 10 wins — including a season-high 21 runs in a 21-5 win over Union (N.Y.) on March 22. … Ben Schott has been the Norse's offensive leader, boasting team highs in batting average (.470), at-bats (66), hits (31), doubles (7), home runs (3), RBIs (21), total bases (51), and slugging percentage (.773). … Schott is one of four Norse entering today's game hitting above .400. He is also one of just three Luther players to start all 19 games this season. … Chris Reynolds has scored a team-leading 21 runs, while Jeff Riddle has stolen a team-best seven stolen bases on seven attempts. … Luther boasts seven pitchers who have logged at least 10 innings this season, including three — Riddle (21.1), Max Flaig (20.1) and Cody Hyland (20.0) with at least 20 innings pitched. … Flaig and Danny Smith lead the team with two wins each, while Smith's 2.31 ERA is also a team best. … Riddle and Darin Schneider share the team lead in strikeouts with 14. … Luther has scored in the first inning in 11 of its 19 games, and has out scored its opponents 35-16 in the teams' first at-bat. … The Norse have outscored their opponents in each of the first four innings by a combined 99-53. … Luther is a perfect 9-0 when leading after the sixth inning.
