WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team returns to action on Saturday, as the Cardinals entertain Macalester in a 1 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-5 MIAC | 8-17 Overall) vs. Macalester Scots (3-9 MIAC | 10-16 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
The Cardinals earned a split in their conference doubleheader against Carleton on Thursday at Max Molock Field. SMU rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh — including the game-winner on an intentional walk wild pitch — in a 9-8 Cardinal win in the opener, while Carleton held off SMU 4-3 in the nightcap. … Macalester picked up a pair of key conference wins on Friday, beating Gustavus 8-4 and 5-0 in St. Peter, Minn.

 
SMU vs. Macalester — A Year Ago:
May 6, 2013: Less than 24 hours after posting back-to-back eight-inning victories over the Auggies — the first a 7-5 win and the second a 2-0 triumph — SMU put in a little more overtime against the Scots. With the same result. Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) delivered a one-out, RBI double to right in the bottom of the 10th inning, scoring pinch-runner Matt Tessmer (Bloomington, Minn.) from second with the game-winning run, as SMU outlasted Macalester 2-1 at Midway Stadium in St. Paul, Minn. Unfortunately, there would be no early, mid- or late-game heroics in the second game, as Macalester erupted for four runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back in earning the split with a 7-1 victory in Game 2.
 
Up Next:
The Cardinals step out of conference play on Monday, as SMU heads to Decorah, Iowa, for a 1 p.m. nonconference doubleheader against Luther. … Macalester is also back in action on Monday, hosting UW-Superior in a 3 p.m. nonconference doubleheader at Nicholson Field in St. Paul, Minn.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
With Thursday's 9-8 win, 4-3 loss against Carleton, the Cardinals have now played eight doubleheaders this season — splitting six of them. SMU won the opener in splits vs. Morningside, St. Olaf, Saint John's, Gustavus and Carleton, while rallying from a 9-3 Game 1 loss to Bethany Lutheran for a 7-2, split-clinching win. … The Cardinals' 9-8 Game 1 win over Carleton Thursday snapped their three-game losing streak. … Five of SMU's last six games have been decided by one run. … Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) and Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) each had three hits to pace SMU's 12-hit Game 1 attack vs. Carleton on Thursday, while SMU's six hits in the nightcap came from six different players. … Two of Schlemmer's three hits were doubles in the opener vs. Carleton, while Buerkle scored three Game 1 runs. … Buerkle, who had his season-opening 20-game hit streak snapped in Game 2 against Gustavus, had a hit in both games vs. Carleton and has now hit safely in 23 of the 25 games he's played in. The freshman has also reached base safely in all 25 games. … Buerkle's 20-game hit streak was SMU's longest since Brady Knudsen hit safely in 21 straight games during the 2008 season. … Buerkle owns a team-leading .388 batting average. The freshman also leads or shares the team lead in runs (20), triples (2), RBIs (20) and slugging percentage (.576). … Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis. / .357) is the team-leader in at-bats (98), hits (35), doubles (12), triples (2), total bases (51) and stolen bases (14). … Doll's 4-for-5 showing against St. Thomas last Tuesday was the sixth four-hit game of the season. Buerkle, Kevin Miley (St. Paul, Minn.), Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.), Pat Krieger (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) have also put together four-hit single-game performances this season. It was the first collegiate four-hit game for all six. … Like Buerkle vs. St. Thomas, and Miley against Hamline on April 2, Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.) launched his first collegiate HR in a Game 2 — delivering a three-run round-tripper against Carleton Thursday. … Zach Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) owns the Cardinals' other home run this season, a three-run shot against Concordia-Chicago on March 6. … Doll leads the team with 11 multiple-hit games this season. … Buerkle is the team's leader in multiple-RBI games with seven. … Doll and Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) are the only two Cardinals to have started all 26 games this season. … Ben Dobosenski (Westmont, Ill.) tossed his first collegiate complete game against Gustavus on April 12. … Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) picked up his first pitching win of the season against Saint John's on April 6, going 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. … Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) recorded his team-leading second win of the season, tossing 5 1/3 innings of five-hit shutout ball against Hamline on April 2. … Scatassa (1-2, 5.13 ERA) has thrown a team-leading 33 1/3 innings, while Johnson (2-2, 4.45 ERA) and Dobosenski (1-5, 7.58 ERA) have logged 30 1/3 and 29 2/3 innings, respectively. … Scatassa is the team's strikeout leader with 29. … Johnson, Dobosenski and Chris Bartosz (Woodridge, Ill.) all recorded their first collegiate pitching wins during SMU's spring trip to Tucson, Ariz. … SMU's Game 1 win over the Gusties on April 12 was its second shutout victory of the season — the Cardinals also blanked Hamline 6-0 on April 2. … The Cardinals have scored four or more runs in 16 of their 24 games. … SMU scored a season-high 10 runs in its 10-2 Game 1 win over St. Olaf on March 7. … The Cardinals have scored first in seven of their eight wins. … SMU is 6-0 when leading after the sixth inning. … 
 
Scouting The Macalester Scots:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
With their sweep of Gustavus on Friday, the Scots pushed their winning streak to four straight. … Macalester's 18-2 win over North Central in Game 1 on Tuesday snapped the Scots' three-game losing streak. … Macalester has scored 10 or more runs in five of its eight wins this season — including a season-high 20 runs in a 20-1 win over Crown on March 15. … The Scots have scored 52 runs in their last three wins combined — an 11-5 win over Concordia on April 8, 18-2, 10-0 wins over North Central (Minn.) on Tuesday and 8-4 and 5-0 wins over Gustavus on Friday.. … Tom Forster is the Scots' offensive leader, boasting a team-best .459 batting average, while also leading the team in at-bats (74), runs (18), hits (34), doubles (7), triples (4), RBIs (20), total bases (52), slugging percentage (.703), walks (15) and on-base percentage (.538). … Macalester has had five different players — Forster, Quentin Stuart, Ross Bronfenbrenner, Aidan Hennen and Danny Halloran — account for its five home runs. … Bronfenbrenner has stolen a team-leading nine bases on 10 attempts this season. … Jamie Progebin owns a team-leading two pitching wins. … Justin Kleschen has logged a team-high 25 2/3 innings, while Joseph Aulisi boasts a team-best 2.21 ERA in a team-high seven appearances. Brendan O'Connor and Dylan Edwards-Gaherty share the team lead in strikeouts with 17. … Macalester has held its opponents to five runs or less in seven of its eight wins. … The Scots have scored in the first inning in seven of their eight wins, while going just 2-10 when their opponent scores first.