DECORAH, Iowa — The Saint Mary's University baseball team returns to action on Monday, as the Cardinals step out of conference play to take on Luther in a 2:30 p.m. nine-inning nonconference game.
 
The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (10-17 Overall) at Luther Norse (12-18 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
The Cardinals picked up a pair of key Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference wins on Saturday, dropping Macalester 13-3 in the opener and 10-5 in the nightcap at Max Molock Field. … Luther picked up a pair of IIAC splits against Simpson last weekend, winning 4-3 and losing 4-2 on Saturday, while falling 3-2 and rebounding with a 10-2 Game 2 win on Saturday.
 
SMU vs. Luther — Their Last Meeting:
March 27, 2012: For the second and third time in the last three days, there was late-inning heroics at the Metrodome. Unfortunately for SMU — unlike Sunday's, 14-inning, 1-0 victory over UW-Oshkoh — it was Luther providing the late-inning magic. The Norse rallied from a 1-0 deficit with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning in beating SMU 2-1 in the opener, then erupted for four runs in the top of the seventh inning of the nightcap, erasing a 5-2 Cardinal lead to complete the sweep with a 6-5 victory.
 
Up Next:
The Cardinals are right back in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Tuesday, traveling to Parade Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 2:30 p.m. conference doubleheader against Augsburg. … Luther returns to IIAC play on Friday, as the Norse head to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for 1 p.m. doubleheader against Coe.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
The Cardinals picked up their first conference sweep of the season with last Saturday's 13-3, 10-5 wins over Macalester. … SMU has won the first game in five of its six conference doubleheaders this season. … The Cardinals' 13 runs in Game 1 against Macalester were a season high, while the 13 runs in the opener and 10 runs in Game 2 marked the first time since beating Illinois Institute of Technology 12-4 and 15-4 on March 8, 2013 that SMU has scored 10 or more runs in both games of a doubleheader. … The Cardinals head into Monday's game against Luther having won three of their last four. … Five of SMU's last eight games have been decided by one run. … The Cardinals boasted four players — Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.), Kevin Gannon (Roselle, Ill.), Kevin Miley (St. Paul, Minn.) and David Barry (Apple Valley, Minn.) all had two hits in the opener against Macalester, while Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) and Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.) each had two hits in Game 2. … All three of Lursen's hits vs. the Scots were doubles. … Schlemmer has now collected three hits in two of SMU's last four games. … Buerkle, who had his season-opening 20-game hit streak snapped in Game 2 against Gustavus on April 12, had a hit in both games vs. Macalester and has now hit safely in 25 of the 27 games he's played in. The freshman has also reached base safely in all 27 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 .383 batting average. The freshman also leads or shares the team lead in runs (22), hits (36), triples (2), RBIs (23) and slugging percentage (.533). … Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis. / .333) is the team-leader in at-bats (108), hits (36), doubles (13), triples (2), total bases (53) and stolen bases (14). … Doll's 4-for-5 showing against St. Thomas on April 15 was the sixth four-hit game of the season. Buerkle, Miley, Gannon, 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, Lursen launched his first collegiate HR in a Game 2 — delivering a three-run round-tripper against Carleton on April 17. … 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 Gannon are the only two Cardinals to have started all 28 games this season. … Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) collected his team-leading third pitching win of the season with a seven-hit, complete-game performance against Macalester last Saturday. … The complete game was Johnson's team-high second of the season. … Johnson has now logged a team-leading 37 1/3 innings, compiling a 3-2 record and a 3.86 ERA. … Ben Dobosenski (Westmont, Ill.) tossed his first collegiate complete game against Gustavus on April 12. … Scatassa 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. … Scatassa (1-2, 5.13 ERA) is second to Johnson in innings pitched with 33 1/3, while also leading the team with 27 strikeouts. … 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 18 of their 27 games. … The Cardinals have scored first in nine of their 10 wins. … SMU is 8-0 when leading after the sixth inning.
 
Scouting The Luther Norse:
2014 Roster | 2014 Statistics | 2014 Schedule
Luther's 4-3, Game 1 win over Simpson last Friday snapped the Norse's three-game losing streak. … Luther's 10-2 win over the Storm last Saturday ended a streak of four straight games decided by two runs or less. … With their 10 runs in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against Simpson, the Norse have now plated 10 or more runs nine times this season. … Luther scored a season-high 16 runs in a 16-15 victory over Valley City State on March 24. … Andy Briggs heads into Monday's showdown with Saint Mary's hitting a team-leading .373, while also leading the team in runs (30), triples (3),walks (16) and on-base percentage (.484). … Czenvic Rojer, who is second to Briggs with a .355 batting average, owns the team lead in hits (39), doubles (8), home runs (3), RBIs (36), total bases (58) and slugging percentage (.527). … Eric Pittman has accounted for more than half of Luther's 13 stolen bases, going 7-for-8. … Rojer is the only Norse to start all 30 games this season. … Alec Knop has been the ace of the Norse pitching staff, compiling a 5-1 record and a 2.20 ERA with six complete games in 45 innings of work. He also boasts a team-leading 51 strikeouts. … Knopp is one of seven Luther pitchers to have logged 20 or more innings this season. … Luther has been held to two runs or less 10 times this season, going 1-9. … Luther has surrendered the game's first run in 19 of its 30 games this season.