WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team returns to conference play Saturday, hosting Gustavus in an MIAC doubleheader at Max Molock Field. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.




The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (1-3 MIAC | 7-13 Overall) vs.
Gustavus Gusties (0-2 MIAC | 2-10 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals collected a pair of nonconference wins on Friday, routing visiting Finlandia 14-1 and 5-1 at Max Molock Field. … Gustavus, meanwhile, kicked off its conference schedule on Wednesday, dropping a pair of games to nationally ranked St. Olaf. GAC fell 3-2 in the opener, and was blanked 9-0 in the nightcap in St. Peter, Minn..

Last Meeting — April 10, 2010:
SMU erupted for seven runs in the third inning and never looked back in beating the Gusties 10-3 in the first game of their conference doubleheader. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Game 2 didn't go quite as nicely as SMU gave up three runs in the first inning and two more in the second as Gustavus earned a split with a 8-2 victory in St Peter, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are right back in conference play on Tuesday, as SMU hosts Concordia in a 2:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader at Max Molock Field. … Gustavus, meanwhile, is also at home on Tuesday, hosting Augsburg in a 2:30 p.m. conference twinbill in St. Peter, Minn.

Saint Mary's Cardinals Around The Horn:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics
With Friday's two wins over Finlandia, the Cardinals pushed their winning streak to three straight. … With their 14-run outburst in Game 1 vs. the Lions Friday, the Cardinals have now scored 10 or more runs in two of their last three games. … SMU's 14 runs in its 14-1 Game 1 win were the most since plating a season-high 18 in an 18-5 win over Concordia-Wisconsin on March 11. … The Cardinals boasted three players — Andrew Warren (Stillwater, Minn.), Chris Bogie (St. Paul, Minn.) and Jake Lechner (Shoreview, Minn.) — who had three hits in the opener vs. Finlandia Friday, while Paul LaNasa (Bloomington, Minn.) was 3-for-3 and Cody Pfennig (La Crosse, Wis.) was 2-for-2 in the nightcap. … Warren, Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) and Bogie all had three RBIs in Game 1 Friday, with LaNasa recording SMU's only two RBIs in the second game. … Warren delivered his first HR of the season in Friday's opener. He joins Schlemmer and Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.) as the team's home run leader with one each. … Swanson went 2-for-4 in the opener vs. Finlandia and has now hit safely in 16 of the 18 games he's played this year. … Teddy VanRanst (St. Paul, Minn.) and Luke Larson (Bloomington, Minn.) each tossed complete games vs. Finlandia Friday. VanRanst scattered five hits and allowed one earned run, while Larson gave up seven hits and did not allow an earned run. … The complete games were the first of their careers for both VanRanst and Larson. … VanRanst also struck out a season- and career-high seven batters. … Swanson enters Saturday's doubleheader against Gustavus hitting a team-leading .394, while also boasting team-highs in at-bats (71), hits (28) and total bases (36). … Swanson's .507 slugging percentage is second to Schlemmer's team-leading .532. Schlemmer also leads the team in RBIs with 20. … Schlemmer is one of four Cardinals with 10 or more RBIs — Warren (15), Swanson (10) and Bogie (10) are the other three. … Warren leads the team in doubles (7) and shares the team lead in triples (2). … With his 2-for-4 Game 1 effort — the third straight game in which he has collected two or more hits — Swanson now boasts a team-leading 11 multiple-hit games, while Schlemmer owns a team-best six multiple-RBI games, including a six-RBI performance during a 4-for-4 showing against Concordia-Wisconsin on March 11. … With his team-leading second complete game against Carleton last Wednesday, Ruf pushed his team-high innings pitched total to 26.0. Ruf also leads the team wins (2) and is one of seven Cardinal hurlers who have logged 10 or more innings. … Bogie who tossed his first collegiate nine-inning complete game in SMU's 4-2 win over Marian on March 12, enters Friday's DH vs. Finlandia leading the team in ERA (3.86). … SMU's 4-3, 10-inning loss in the opener vs. Cornell on March 19 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. … The Cardinals have scored in their first at-bat in seven of their 20 games this season. SMU is 6-0 when leading after the sixth inning, but 1-13 when tied or trailing heading into the seventh inning.

Gustavus Gusties Around The Horn:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics
Wednesday's doubleheader losses to St. Olaf pushed the Gusties' losing streak to four straight. … GAC has surrendered nine or more runs in three of their last four games — a 13-8 loss to Williams, a 9-8, 10-inning setback vs. Oberlin and a 9-0, Game 2 loss vs. St. Olaf on Wednesday. … Wednesday's Game 2 loss was also the second time GAC has been shut out this season — Oberlin handed the Gusties a 2-0 loss in the second game of their doubleheader on March 28. … Cody Sukalski, Taylor Fish and Scott Benjamin all had two hits in GAC's 3-2, Game 1 loss to St. Olaf Wednesday, while the Gusties were limited to just three hits — all singles — in the nightcap. … Taylor Fish enters Saturday's DH at Saint Mary's with a team-leading .429 batting average, while Sukalski is the team-leader in at-bats (44), hits (15), doubles (2), triples (3), home runs (1), RBIs (7), total bases (27) and slugging percentage (.591). … Sukalski's two-run, fifth-inning home run against Oberlin on March 31 is the Gusties' lone HR this season. … Sukalski has also accounted for three of the team's five triples. … Kellan Eurle has compiled a 2.37 ERA, while also leading the team in complete games (2), strikeouts (19) and innings pitched (19.0). … As a team, GAC enters Saturday's twinbill with a 5.81 ERA.