ST. PAUL, Minn. — After back-to-back nonconference doubleheaders, the Saint Mary's University baseball team returns to conference play on Monday, traveling to St. Thomas for a 1 p.m. twinbill against the nationally ranked Tommies.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-2 MIAC | 11-10 Overall)
at St. Thomas Tommies (4-0 MIAC | 16-4 Overall)

Last Action:
The Cardinals picked up a pair of nonconference wins on Thursday against Viterbo, as SMU rallied for six runs in the top of the seventh inning to record a 13-7 Game 1 win, then scored six runs in the first inning of the nightcap en route to an 8-3 win in the nightcap in La Crosse, Wis..  … St. Thomas, meanwhile, kept its conference record perfect Wednesday, picking up a pair of one-run wins over Augsburg — beating the Auggies 4-3 in the opener and 7-6 in the nightcap at Parade Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — Their Last Meeting:
April 8, 2011: The Tommies sent 13 batters to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring eight runs on six hits again three different SMU pitchers to take an 11-3 lead en route to an 11-4 opening-game victory in St. Paul, Minn. UST used a pair of big innings to complete the sweep, as the Tommies scored four runs in the first and four more in the fourth to beat SMU 9-5 and earn a share of the MIAC regular-season title.

Up Next:
The Cardinals return home on Tuesday, as SMU hosts Concordia in a 1 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field in Winona, Minn. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, is also at home on Tuesday, as the Tommies entertain Saint John's in a 2:30 p.m. conference twinbill in St. Paul, Minn.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Media Guide
Saturday's doubleheader against St. Thomas is the third straight road doubleheader of the week for SMU, which stepped out of conference play for DHs at UW-Stout on Tuesday and at Viterbo on Thursday. … When SMU returns home on April 10 to face the Cobbers, the Cardinals will have played 21 of their first 23 games on the road. … With their sweep of Viterbo, the Cardinals have won three straight. … SMU's 13-7 Game 1 win at Viterbo marked the first time since the Cardinals' 5-2 win over Northern State on March 4 that they won the opening game of a doubleheader. … SMU's 13 runs vs. Viterbo in their opening-game 13-7 win marked the highest offensive output since plating a season-high 14 runs in a 14-13, 10-inning win over Lewis & Clark on March 10. … SMU has now scored nine or more runs six times this season. … Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) went 4-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs in SMU's 13-7 win over Viterbo in the opener Thursday. The four hits equal a career-best, while the two home runs are a single-game career high. Schlemmer also scored a career-high three runs in the 13-7 victory. … Danny Geraghty (Park Ridge, Ill.) was 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored to pace the Cardinals in their 8-3 Game 2 win over Viterbo. It was the second time this season Geraghty has recorded a career-best three hits in a game. …  Pat Krieger (Mendota Heights, Minn.) owns a team-leading .438 batting average. He and Schlemmer (.404) are two of 11 Cardinals hitting above .300. … Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) leads the team in at-bats (75), runs (15), hits (28), doubles (10), RBIs (18) and total bases (39). … Schlemmer boasts a team-leading .750 slugging percentage, having recorded four doubles, four triples and two home runs among his 21 hits this season. … Schlemmer's two four triples and two home runs are a team high. … Gannon and Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) join Schlemmer as the only Cardinals to hit home runs this season.  Gannon hit his first collegiate home run in Game 1 against Lewis & Clark on March 10, while Wolfe's first collegiate round-tripper came against Simpson on March 8. … Mike Feriancek (River Falls, Wis.) has stolen a team-leading 12 bases on 13 attempts this season. … Andy Edholm (Hudson, Wis.) has hit safely in seven straight games, three two shy of Geraghty's season-best 11-game streak set earlier this season. … Geraghty had his streak of reaching base safely snapped at 13 when he was held off the base paths in last Tuesday's opener vs. UW-Stout. … Gannon has recorded a team-best nine multiple-hit games — including three three-hit performances — while Vince Lulic  (Mendota Heights, Minn.) owns a team-leading four multiple-RBI games. … Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) recorded the first four-hit game of his collegiate career, going 4-for-5 against UW-Oshkosh on March 25. … Teddy VanRanst (St. Paul, Minn.) picked up his team-leading third win of the season in the opener vs. Viterbo Thursday, shutting the V-Hawks out on one hit in two innings of relief. It was the first relief appearance of the season for VanRanst, who has thrown a team-high 29 innings and owns a team-best 2.79 ERA. … Sean Minder (Maplewood, Minn.) notched his first collegiate pitching win in Game 2 vs. Viterbo, allowing three earned runs on eight hits in six innings. … Minder became the sixth Cardinal pitcher to notch his first collegiate pitching win, joining Nord,  Krysiak, Pat Regan (Mound, Minn.), Jake Merkle (Mahtomedi, Minn.) and Will DeBruin (Neenah, Wis.). … Justin Kronebusch (Altura, Minn.) has made a team-high 10 appearances, posting a 4.00 ERA and a team-high 19 strikeouts. … Tyler Krysiak (Bloomington, Minn.) — the team's saves leader with three — picked up his first collegiate pitching win vs. UW-Oshkosh on March 25, going the final two innings. He struck out three and surrendered just two hits. … The Cardinals boast three pitchers with ERAs below 4.00 — VanRanst (2.79), Krysiak (3.24) and Geraghty (3.86). … As a staff, the Cardinals' pitchers have compiled a 5.27 ERA during their first 19 games. … Krysiak collected his first collegiate save in SMU's season-opening win over Northern State on March 4, then followed that up with saves against Benedictine University at Springfield on March 5 and Simpson on March 8. … Krysiak's three saves are three shy of the single-season saves record, held by Eric Van Brocklin. … Seven of SMU's 10 losses this season have been by one run. … SMU's Game 2 loss to Luther on March 27 marked the only time in SMU's 11 wins that the Cardinals have lost when outhitting their opponent. … As a team, the Cardinals have plated 130 runs in 19 games this season — including a season-high 14 in a 14-13, 10-inning victory over Lewis & Clark on March 10. … The Cardinals' 1-0, 14-inning victory over UW-Oshkosh on March 25 was their longest game since beating Christian Brothers University 6-5 in 14 innings on March 30, 1999. … The 1-0 win over UW-Oshkosh was also SMU's first shutout victory since blanking Mayville State 1-0 to open the 2010 season. … SMU has played two extra-inning games this season, having also dispatched of Lewis & Clark 14-13 in 10 innings on March 10. …SMU's 14 runs in that 10-inning win over Lewis & Clark was the Cardinals' highest offensive output since plating 14 in a 14-1 win over Finlandia on April 8, 2011. … 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.



St. Thomas Tommies News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
Saturday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's is the home opener for the Tommies, who played their first 20 games on the road. UST has won 16 straight home games and is 86-14 in its last 100 home games. … With Wednesday's sweep of Augsburg, the Tommies pushed their winning streak to seven straight. UST's last loss was a 7-4 setback to Ramapo on March 23 in Auburndale, Fla. … The Tommies' last three wins have been by one run — and three of their wins during their current win streak have been come-from-behind victories. … UST has also won 12 of its last 14 and enters its weekend DH ranked No. 7 in the latest d3baseball.com poll and No. 8 in this week's ABCA Coaches' Poll. … The Tommies — the preseason pick to win the conference in the MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll — rallied from a 5-1 deficit for their 7-6 Game 2 win over Augsburg Wednesday and are one of four teams still unbeaten in conference play. … With their 4-3 and 7-6 wins over Augsburg, the Tommies have swept eight straight conference doubleheaders dating back to April, 2011. … Ben Podobinski sparked UST's 22-hit attack vs. the Auggies Wednesday, going 4-for-8 on the day. … With his effort Wednesday, Podobinski pushed his team-leading batting average to .423. He is one of four Tommie regulars hitting above .300. … Podobinski also leads the team in at-bats (71), runs (19), hits (30), total bases (34) and stolen bases (13). … N Reichert boasts a team-best six doubles, has accounted for one of the Tommies' two home runs, and owns a .491 slugging percentage. … As a team, the Tommies are hitting .307, have scored 99 runs and have stolen 26 bases in 34 attempts. … Steve Maher, in his first career bullpen appearance, got the final seven outs to record the Game 2 victory over Augsburg and move to 7-0 on the season. Maher walked the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning but coaxed a pop out and game-ending double-play grounder. … Maher has thrown a team-leading 41.2 innings and owns a microscopic 1.30 ERA with four complete games in seven appearances. … Maher, who has also struck out a team-best 41 batters, is one of three UST pitchers who are unbeaten this season — Bryce Gapinski (3-0) and Mark Ulrich (1-0) are the other two. … As a staff, UST owns a 2.58 ERA, has struck out 139 batters in 150 innings, and opponents are hitting .240 against them. … St. Thomas has outscored its opponents in every inning but the third and the eight, and owns a 26-9 scoring edge in the first two innings combined. … UST is 10-0 when holding its opponent two two runs or less, including three wins by shutout. … St. Thomas is 11-2 when scoring the game's first run and 8-2 when scoring in the first inning. … St. Thomas went 8-2 in its 10 Metrodome games this season, including a 5-1 mark against teams that reached the 2011 NCAA tournament.