WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team kicks off its home season on Tuesday, hosting Viterbo in a 2 p.m. nonconference doubleheader at Max Molock Field




The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-8 Overall) vs.
Viterbo V-Hawks (10-13 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals have not played since splitting a pair of nonconference games against Cornell on March 19. SMU dropped the opener 4-3 in 10 innings, then bounced back behind the pitching of Gary Seifert (Prescott, Wis.) to win the nightcap 5-4 . … Viterbo, meanwhile, dropped a pair of one-run games to Ashford University, falling 1-0 in the opener and 4-3 in nine innings in the nightcap.

Last Meeting — April 1, 2010:
SMU committed four errors and managed just four hits in dropping a 4-2 decision in the first game, then equaled that offensive output — in both hits and runs — in falling 3-2 in the second game in La Crosse, Wis.

Up Next:
The Cardinals hit the road on Thursday, traveling to La Crosse, Wis., to play UW-La Crosse in a single, nine-inning game beginning at 3 p.m. … Viterbo, meanwhile, opens its home schedule on Wednesday, hosting Waldorf in a 2 p.m. contest.

Saint Mary's Cardinals Around The Horn:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics
With their Game 2 win over Cornell on March 19, the Cardinals have now won two of their last three games and three of their last five. … SMU's 4-3, 10-inning loss in the opener vs. Cornell was the second extra-inning game of the season for the Cardinals, who dropped an 8-7, eight-inning decision to Presentation on March 10. … Gary Seifert (Prescott, Wis.) allowed three earned runs in six innings to beat Cornell and record his first collegiate pitching win. … Sam Levisen (Rochester, Minn.) struck out two in the seventh inning vs. Cornell, giving the senior his first collegiate save. … Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.) went 4-for-7 with two doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored vs. Cornell. … Vince Lulic (Mendota Heights, Minn.), who collected a hit in both games vs. the Rams, leads the team with a .471 batting average. His is one of three Cardinals hitting above .400 through 11 games. Swanson (.415) and Jon Schlemmer (DePere, Wis. / .400) are the other two. … Swanson also leads the team in hits (17) and total bases (23), while Schlemmer is the team-leader in RBIs (16) and slugging percentage (.600). … Andrew Warren (Stillwater, Minn.) boasts a team-leading 45 at-bats, while he and Cody Pfennig (La Crosse, Wis.) are the only two players to have started all 11 games this season. … Swanson leads the team with seven multiple-hit games, while Schlemmer has the team lead in multiple-RBI games with five — including a six-RBI afternoon in SMU's 18-5 win over Concordia-Wisconsin on March 11. … With his two hits vs. Cornell, Lulic extended his hitting streak to nine straight, while Swanson has hit safely in seven consecutive games. … Chris Bogie (St. Paul, Minn.), who tossed his first collegiate nine-inning complete game in SMU's 4-2 win over Marian on March 12, leads the team with a 4.15 ERA and a 1-1 record. He and Andrew Ruf (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) share the team lead in innings pitched with 13.0, while Bogie and Seifert boast a team-best nine strikeouts. … The Cardinals are 1-4 when scoring in the first inning, and 0-4 when their opponent scores in the game's opening frame. … The Cardinals' 18 runs in their 18-5 win over Concordia-Wisconsin on March 11 were the most since SMU plated 18 in an 18-3 win over Viterbo on May 3, 2005. … SMU's 23 hits vs. Concordia-Wisconsin were the most in a single game in the last decade.

Viterbo V-Hawks Around The Horn:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics
With their two losses to Ashford, the V-Hawks enter today's nonconference doubleheader against Saint Mary's in the midst of a four-game losing streak. … Viterbo's last three losses have all been by one run — 14-13 at Iowa Wesleyan, and 1-0 and 4-3 at Ashford. … Eight of Viterbo's 13 losses have been by two runs or less. … Including today's two games at Saint Mary's, Viterbo's first 25 games thus far have all been played on the road. … Kahtan Al-Kaissy accounted for two of Viterbo's four Game 1 hits against Ashford Sunday, while Al-Kaissy and Brandon Buelow each had two hits to fuel the V-Hawks' nine-hit attack in the nightcap. … Buelow enters Tuesday's DH vs. SMU with team highs in batting average (.414), hits (24), doubles (5), and on-base percentage (.493), while Blake Shepherd leads the team in runs (15), triples (5), home runs (3), RBIs (20), total bases (39), and slugging percentage (.639). … Shepherd has accounted for five of the team's 10 triples and three of the V-Hawks' five home runs. … Buelow and Andy Behnke have each recorded seven multiple-hit games, while Shepherd's five multiple-RBI games are a team high. … Behnke was held hitless in the second game against Ashford Sunday, snapping his season-high seven-game hitting streak. Al-Kaissy enters today's doubleheader riding a six-game hitting streak. … Viterbo boasts three pitchers — Brady Banse, Howard Heinrich and Andrew Farrell — with 2-1 records, while Banse also leads the squad with a 2.94 ERA and 33.2 innings. … Heinrich has struck out 28 batters in 31.2 innings, while Chris Dunn has 21 Ks in 29.0 innings. … Viterbo pitchers have thrown eight complete games through 23 contests this year, led by Banse and Heinrich with three each. … The V-Hawks have scored 27 runs in the first inning, but have been outscored 12-5 in the second and 20-4 in the third. … Last Sunday's nine-inning game against Ashford was the fourth extra-inning game of the season for the V-Hawks, who are 2-2 in extra-inning games.