ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team kicks off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Monday, traveling to Koch Diamond on the campus of St. Thomas for a 2 p.m. doubleheader against the nationally ranked Tommies.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0 MIAC | 12-3 Overall) at #4 St. Thomas (0-0 MIAC | 8-4 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals finished 2-1 at the Wheaton Tournament last weekend in Carol Stream, Ill.—falling Buena Vista 4-3, before rebounding with 7-5 and 7-2 wins over Wheaton (Ill.) and Aurora | BVU Recap * Wheaton Recap * Aurora Recap
• St. Thomas: The Tommies closed out their 12-game spring trip to Tucson, Ariz., with a pair of losses to third-ranked UW-Whitewater Wednesday. The Warhawks beat UST 16-5 and 3-1 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas—A Year Ago:
• April 15, 2014: Saint Mary's opening-game starter Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and reliever Pat Regan (Mound, Minn.) limited the high-powered Tommies to just four runs on eight hits in Game 1 of their MIAC twinbill at Koch Diamond in St. Paul, Minn. Unfortunately, four runs proved to be one too many, as the Tommies held off a seventh-inning SMU rally to beat the Cardinals 4-3 in Game 1. UST erupted for four runs in the top of the first inning in the nightcap and never relinquished the lead, completing the sweep with a 13-5 victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals kick off the home portion of their 2015 schedule on Wednesday, entertaining Hamline in a 2:30 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies hit the road on Wednesday, traveling across town to Macalester for a conference doubleheader against Macalester. First pitch in St. Paul, Minn., is set for 2:30 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
With their 2-1 showing at the Wheaton (Ill.) Tournament on March 20-21, the Cardinals improved to 7-1 in their last eight games. … Saint Mary's 4-3 loss to Buena Vista last Friday snapped their season-high five-game winning streak. … The Cardinals' 13-3 start is their best 16-game start since opening the 1993 season, when Saint Mary's started 14-2. … Saint Mary's is in the midst of a season-opening 17-game road swing—the Cardinals do not open the home portion of their schedule until April 1, when they entertain Hamline. … Tyler Lursen (Oakdale, Minn.), Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.), and Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) all collected team-highs in his (5) and runs (3) in Saint Mary's three games at the Wheaton (Ill.) Tournament, while Kevin Miley (St. Paul, Minn.) drove in a team-best four runs. … Buerkle, one of five Cardinals to start all 15 games this season, owns a team-leading .444 batting average, while also boasting team highs in runs (21), hits (24), doubles (5), triples (2), home runs (2), RBIs (15), total bases (39), slugging percentage (.722), and on-base percentage (.500). … Buerkle had at least one hit in all three games at Wheaton—extending his season-opening hitting streak to 15 straight. … Fueled by his 15-game hitting streak, Buerkle has now had at least one hit in 51 of the 55 games he's played in a Cardinal uniform—and has reached base safely in 54 of 55 contests. … Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) has also reached base safely in all 15 games this season. … Saint Mary's has belted eight home runs this season, led by Buerkle with two. Schlemmer, Miley, Lursen, Doll (Amherst, Wis.), Drew Denning (St. Paul, Minn.), and Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Wis.) hit Saint Mary's other six round-trippers. The home runs by Denning and Pieczynski were collegiate firsts. … Pieczynski's home run was a pinch-hit, three-run, walk-off shot in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Saint Mary's a 10-8 win over Concordia on March 2. … Doll, who leads the team with nine stolen bases, has put together a team-high nine multiple-hit games—one more than Buerkle—while Schlemmer and Miley own five multiple-RBI performances. … Jacob Dawson (Oakdale, Minn.) and Ryan Fejt (Westchester, Ill.) collected Saint Mary's two pitching wins at the Wheaton (Ill.) Tournament. Fejt allowed on erun on four hits in four innings of relief in the Cardinals' win over Wheaton (Ill.) last Friday, while Dawson tossed eight innings of one-run ball—scattering six hits and striking out five—in beating Aurora on Saturday. … Dawson had his season-opening 17-inning scoreless streak snapped in the second inning against Aurora on March 21. … Dawson, who hurled his first collegiate complete game in a three-hit, seven-strikeout 1-0 shutout of Loras on March 5, improved to 4-0 with a 0.38 ERA with his eight-inning effort vs. Aurora. … Dawson has logged a team-high 24.0 innings in four starts, with opponents hitting just .183 against him. … Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill. / 1-0, 3.38 ERA) is second to Dawson in innings pitched with 16.0, while leading the team with 17 strikeouts, one more than Dawson. … Fejt and Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn.) both picked up their first collegiate pitching wins for the Cardinals during their 10-game spring trip. Feit did not allow a run, scattering two hits and striking out two in three innings to earn the win vs. Lyndon State on March 3, while Mathwig got the win in relief against Concordia on March 2. … The Cardinals have scored 110 runs this season—including five games of 10 or more runs. … Saint Mary's scored a season-high 13 run in a 13-2 win over Lyndon State on March 3. … The Cardinals have outscored their first 15 opponents 110-52—including 14-3 in the first inning, 17-3 in the second and 20-3 in the fifth. … Saint Mary's is 11-1 when holding its opponent to five runs or less. On the flip side, the Cardinals are 10-0 when plating six or more runs. … The Cardinals are 11-0 when leading after the sixth inning.
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
After opening the season with five straight wins, the Tommies are just 3-4 in their last six contests. …  Barring weather changes, UST will play 21 of its first 23 games off campus. … UST's 54-game home-field win streak is the second-longest current streak in any Division III men's sport behind only Mount Union football's 85 in a row. … The Tommies have given up 10 or more runs in two of their four losses—a 13-7 setback vs. Southwestern (Texas) and a 16-5 loss to No. 3 UW-Whitewater—while UST's other two losses were by identical 3-1 decisions. … The Tommies closed out their 12-game spring trip hitting .324 as a team—led by Hunter Hart (.462) and Jake Smith (.400). … Smith also led the team in runs (13) and hits (18). … Ryan Gerber (.317) boasted seven extra-base hits among his 13 hits through 12 games—including two doubles, a triple, and a team-best four home runs. … Gerber owns a team-leading 17 RBIs, while Hart is second in RBIs with 13 and boasts a .769 slugging percentage and .462 on-base percentage. … UST has already hit eight triples through 12 games, led by Drew Miller with three. … The Tommies recorded season highs of 21 runs and 26 hits in a 21-9 win over Marian on March 14. … St. Thomas used 15 pitchers during their 12-game spring trip, with Eric Veglahn (16.0 IP), Colin Wendinger (16.0 IP), Dominic Reed (14.0 IP), and Ty Feyereisen (13.2 IP) leading the way. … Reed (0-1) owns a team-leading 0.64 ERA, with Veglahn (1-0) close behind at 1.14. … Feyereisen owns a team-leading two wins—going 2-1 in four appearances, while Veglahn and Weindinger have accounted for the team's two complete games. … The Tommie pitching staff has struck out 86 batters, led by Veglahn with 17 and Wendinger with 14. … St. Thomas is 41-0 the last two seasons when leading after six innings. … St. Thomas has won 30 or more games in 17 of the last 19 seasons and reached the NCAA playoffs in 19 of the last 20 years. … The Tommies closed out 2014 ranked No. 3 in the final D3baseball.com Poll, after going 39-9 and finishing third in the NCAA Division III national tournament. … St. Thomas—which reached the national tournament for the third time in the last six seasons—had two wins and two one-run losses at the eight-team national tournament a year ago. … St. Thomas captured an unprecedented 12th consecutive MIAC championship a year ago and won 21 of 23 games against conference opposition last season. That included a 4-0 record at regionals to give UST a berth in the eight-team World Series, the program's third in six seasons.