WINONA, Minn. — Right in the thick of the MIAC playoff race, the Saint Mary's University baseball team closes out its regular season Monday, hosting Carleton in a 2:30 conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (9-9 MIAC | 20-17 Overall)
vs. Carleton Knights  (6-12 MIAC | 14-21 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats | GameDay Program | Senior Salute

Last Action:
The Cardinals bounced back from a heartbreaking 4-3 loss in Game 1 against Hamline Wednesday with a 6-5 victory in the nightcap at Midway Stadium in St. Paul, Minn. The split kept the Cardinals tied with Bethel, Augsburg and Concordia for third place in the MIAC standings. … Carleton, meanwhile, earned a split in its conference doubleheader against Bethel, dropping the opener 4-3 in 13 innings, before outlasting the Royals 9-8 in eight innings in the nightcap in Arden Hills, Minn.

MIAC Tournament Outlook:
St. Thomas and Saint John's have locked up the top two spots in the fourth-team MIAC Tournament, with the regular-season champion Tommies (18-0) owning the No. 1 spot, while the Johnnies (13-5) are the No. 2 seed. From there, it's a jumbled mess, as Saint Mary's, Bethel, Augsburg and Concordia are all tied at 9-9 heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Along with SMU vs. Carleton, Augsburg squares off against Saint John's on Monday. Concordia and Bethel, meanwhile, resume their suspended Game 1 on Monday, with the score tied 3-3 in the sixth. One thing is certain, if the Cardinals sweep Carleton Monday, they will be making their first post-season appearance since 2002.

SMU vs. Carleton — Their Last Meeting:
April 6, 2011: After going through an entire game in which the Cardinals couldn't buy a run, runs came in bunches in the second game, as the Cardinals rebounded from 1-0 loss in the opener to beat Carleton 11-6 and earn a split in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader in Northfield, Minn.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Media Guide
With their split against Hamline on Wednesday, the Cardinals enter Sunday's regular-season finale against Carleton having won four of their last five and are 9-3 in their last 12 games. … SMU's 6-5, Game 2 win over Hamline Wednesday was the Cardinals' 20th win of the season. It marks the first time SMU has reached the 20-win plateau since 1996, when the Cardinals finished 23-15. … Ten of SMU's 18 losses this season have been by one run. … In their last four doubleheader splits, the Cardinals have lost the opener, then came back to win Game 2. … Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) extended his hitting streak to 11 straight in Game 1 against Hamline Wednesday, going 2-for-3 to pace SMU's seven-hit offensive attack. It was the seventh multiple-hit game during the sophomore's 11-game hit streak. … Gannon, whose season- and career-high hitting streak came to end in the nightcap vs. Hamline, owns a team-leading 17 multiple-hit games. … SMU's other five hits in the opener vs. Hamline came from five different players. … Mike Feriancek (River Falls, Wis.) went 3-for-4 in Game 2 vs. HU, while Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) and Danny Geraghty (Park Ridge, Ill.) each added a pair of hits for the Cardinals. … One of Schlemmer's two Game 2 hits was his team-leading fifth triple of the season. His three-run triple gave Schlemmer seven multiple-RBI games. Schlemmer also leads the team with four home runs. … Schlemmer's four HRs have come in two games. The sophomore has recorded two-home run, five-RBI performances against Viterbo and St. Olaf this season. … SMU launched a season-high three home runs in its 11-8, Game 1 win over St. Olaf on April 18. Schlemmer hit two and Matt Tessmer (West St. Paul, Minn.) accounted for the other. … Tessmer's bomb was the first HR of his collegiate career. … Gannon and Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) join Tessmer as Cardinals who have hit their first collegiate 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. … Pat Krieger (Mendota Heights, Minn.) heads into Sunday's showdown with Carleton boasting a team-best .400 batting average. He is one of 11 Cardinals hitting above .300. … Gannon, second to Krieger with a .397 batting average, leads the team in at-bats (126), runs (26), hits (50), doubles (15), RBIs (30) and total bases (70). … Mike Feriancek (River Falls, Wis.) has stolen a team-leading 18 bases on 20 attempts this season. … Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) has recorded a team-high two four-hit games, while Schlemmer's five RBIs vs. Viterbo and St. Olaf are a single-game team-best. … With his complete-game two-hitter against Augsburg on April 29, left-hander Teddy VanRanst (St. Paul, Minn.) recorded his team-leading fifth win. VanRanst enters Sunday's DH vs. Carleton with a 5-4 record and a 3.06 ERA — both career-bests. … VanRanst has thrown a team-leading 53.0 innings — going at least four innings in all nine of his starts, including a team-best four complete games. … Justin Kronebush (Lewiston, Minn.) notched his fourth win of the season against Hamline Wednesday, allowing five runs on nine hits in 5.2 innings. Tyler Krysiak (Bloomington, Minn.) notched his team-leading fifth save, holding the Pipers hitless over the final 1.1 innings. … Krysiak is now just one save shy of the single-season school record, set by Eric Van Brocklin in 1993. … Kronebusch leads the squad with 36 strikeouts and is second to VanRanst in innings pitched with 50.0 … The Cardinals boast six pitchers — Sam Nord (West. St. Paul, Minn.), Sean Minder (Maplewood, Minn.), Krysiak, Pat Regan (Mound, Minn.), Jake Merkle (Mahtomedi, Minn.) and Will DeBruin (Neenah, Wis.) — who have notched their first collegiate pitching wins this season. … As a team, the Cardinals have plated 211 runs in 37 games this season — including a season-high 15 runs in their 15-4 Game 2 win over Gustavus on April 14. … SMU is 16-2 when leading after the sixth inning, and are 19-2 when out-hitting its opponent. … The Cardinals enjoyed a streak-snapping four-day run from April 14-18.  SMU picked up its first conference sweep in 41 MIAC doubleheaders with their 7-6, 15-4 victories over Gustavus on April 14, then notched their first back-to-back MIAC sweeps since 2003 with 11-8, 5-3 wins over St. Olaf four days later on April 18. … SMU's sweep of Gustavus on April 14 was its first over GAC since beating the Gusties 9-3 and 6-4 on April 6, 2005. The Cardinals' last sweep of St. Olaf, meanwhile, came on April 21, 2001, when SMU beat the Oles 7-1 and 2-1. … 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. … Sunday's 6-5, eight-inning win over Augsburg was the Cardinals' third extra-inning game — and third extra-inning win — this season. Along with Augsburg and UW-Oshkosh, SMU also dispatched of Lewis & Clark 14-13 in 10 innings on March 10. … 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.

Carleton Knights News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
The Knights' 4-3, 13-inning loss to Bethel Wednesday was the longest game in the MIAC this season. It was also the first of back-to-back extra-inning contests for Carleton, which beat the Royals 9-8 in eight innings in the nightcap. … Carleton's Game 1 loss to Bethel also marked the fourth straight doubleheader in which the Knights lost the first game. … Alex Wirta enters Monday's final conference doubleheader at Saint Mary's hitting a team-best .366. He is one of five Knights hitting above .300. … Wirta also leads or shares the team lead in runs (23), hits (41), doubles (14), RBIs (26), slugging percentage (.491) and on-base percentage (.435). … Jeff Dsida, who is hitting .352, owns a team-best 116 at-bats, while sharing the team lead in hits (41) with Wirta. … Ray Yong has been walked a team-high 25 times in 35 games. … Erik Fabry has hit the Knights' only home run this season. … Carleton has eight players with at least 10 RBIs. … Paul Dimick has thrown a team-high 58.0 innings this season, compiling a 4.34 ERA and a 3-6 record. … Dimick and Anderson Cole share the team lead with three wins each. Cole is second to Dimick in innings pitched (48.1). … Jackson Tears, owner of a 2-3 record and a 2.96 ERA, has appeared in a team-leading 16 games. … Dimick leads the team with 23 strikeouts, two more than Danny Shields. … The Knights have been outscored 30-10 in the sixth inning. … Carleton is 12-1 when leading after six innings, but just 2-19 when trailing heading into the seventh inning. … The Knights are 6-0 when holding their opponent to two runs or less. … Carleton has scored 10 or more runs four times — including a season-high 17-run effort against Crown on April 17. The Knights are 4-0 when scoring 10 or more runs.