MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team, fresh off a 6-4 showing during their spring trip in Arizona, are back in action Saturday, squaring off against Cornell (Iowa) in a 10 p.m. doubleheader at the Metrodome.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-4 Overall)
vs. Cornell College Rams (2-7 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals split a pair of games against Lewis & Clark last Saturday, dropping the opener 5-4, before bouncing back for a 14-13, 10-inning victory in the nightcap to cap their 6-4 spring trip in Phoenix, Ariz. … Cornell, meanwhile, snapped a three-game losing streak with an 8-1 win over Robert Morris in Springfield, Ill., on Sunday.

SMU vs. Cornell — Their Last Meeting:
March 19, 2011: The Cardinals and Rams split their nonconference doubleheader, with Cornell outlasting SMU 4-3 in 10 innings, while SMU turned the tables in the nightcap with a 5-4 victory.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are back in the Metrodome next Sunday, March 25, squaring off against UW-Oshkosh in a nonconference doubleheader beginning at 9 p.m. … Cornell, meanwhile, returns to action next Friday and Saturday, squaring off against Buena Vista in a 6 p.m. nine-inning game on Friday, and a pair of seven-inning contests on Saturday in Mount Vernon, Iowa.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Media Guide
With their 9-2, 5-2 victories over NCAA Division II Northern State on March 4, the Cardinals opened the season with a sweep for the first time since taking two from Valley City State to kick off the 2005 season. … SMU's 14 runs in its 14-13, 10-inning win over Lewis & Clark on March 10 was the Cardinals' highest offensive output since plating 14 in a 14-1 win over Finlandia on April 8, 2011. … The Cardinals' 10-inning game against Lewis & Clark was their longest since falling to Cornell 4-3 in 10 innings on March 19, 2011. … The Cardinals have scored 70 runs through 10 games this season. … Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.), Curt Swanson (Woodbury, Minn.) and Vince Lulic (Mendota Heights, Minn.) are the only Cardinals to have played in all 10 games this season — the trio has started all 10 games as well. … Pat Krieger (Mendota Heights, Minn.) enters Saturday's game hitting a team-best .500, while Teddy VanRanst (St. Paul, Minn. / .444) and Gannon (.421) are also hitting above .400. … Gannon leads the team in at-bats (38), runs (10), hits (16), doubles (7), home runs (1), RBIs (13), and slugging percentage (.737). … Nine of Gannon's 16 hits have gone for extra bases. … Gannon hit his first collegiate home run in SMU's opener against Lewis & Clark last Saturday. … Gannon has recorded a team-beat five multiple-hit games — including three three-hit performances. … Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) also launched his first collegiate home run on the Cardinals' spring trip, belting a solo shot against Simpson on March 8. … Swanson and Danny Geraghty (Chicago, Ill.) enter Saturday's DH vs. Cornell sporting season-best seven-game hitting streaks. … The Cardinals' pitching staff compiled a 5.40 ERA during their spring trip. … Four of the Cardinals' six wins came from pitchers recording their first collegiate pitching wins — Sam Nord (Mendota Heights, Minn.), Pat Regan (Mound, Minn.), Jake Merkle (Mahtomedi, Minn.) and Will DeBruin (Neenah, Wis.). … Nord owns a team-best 2-1 record and a 2.57 ERA, while Justin Kronebusch (Altura, Minn.) has tossed a team-high 13.1 innings. … Kronebusch also leads the team in strikeouts with nine. … Tyler Krysiak (Bloomington, Minn.) collected his first collegiate save in SMU's season-opening win over Northern State, then followed that up with saves against Benedictine University at Springfield and Simpson. … Krysiak's three saves are three shy of the single-season saves record, held by Eric Van Brocklin. … Three of the Cardinals' four losses have been by one run. SMU is 5-1 in games decided by more than one run. … SMU has scored 24 of its 70 runs after the sixth inning.

Cornell Rams News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
The Rams snapped a three-game losing streak with their 8-1 Game 2 win over Robert Morris on Sunday. Cornell's three losses during that three-game slide were all to Robert Morris. … Cornell dropped three of four games March 10-11 at Robert Morris despite outhitting (.300-.228) and outpitching (1.44 ERA-3.86) the hosts.
… Cornell opened the season with four-straight losses, snapping that streak with a 20-0 win over Pittsburgh-Greensburg. … Cornell has scored 28 runs in its two wins, while managing just 15 in its seven losses. … Zach Rogers enters Saturday's DH vs. Saint Mary's with a team-leading .485. He is one of three Rams hitting above .400. … Joe Gerace (.459) leads the tea in at-bats (37), runs (14), hits (17) and doubles (4). … Rogers is the team-leader in triples (2), RBIs (6) and slugging percentage (.788), while also boasting seven multiple-hit games. … Rogers owns the team's lone home run. … Jacob Courtrigth and Beriah Quick own Cornell's two pitching wins. … The Rams boast three pitchers — Justin Brown (13.1 IP), Quick (12.0 IP) and Charlie Muir (12.0 IP) who have thrown 10 or more innings. … Muir is the team's strikeout lead with eight. … As a staff, the Rams have complied a 6.35 ERA, led by Quick's 2.25 ERA. … Cornell has scored 25 of its 43 runs in the first (11) and fourth (14) innings. … Seth Wing is in his first year at Cornell. He was associate head coach the past three years at Winona State, which took second in the 2011 Division II College World Series. … Cornell has 13 first-year players on 25-man roster. Ten players are multi-sport athletes.