WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team steps out of conference play on Thursday, heading to Winona State's Loughery Field for a nine-inning nonconference game against the NCAA Division II Warriors. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (21-8 Overall) at Winona State Warriors (17-21 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals dropped both ends of their conference doubleheader against Augsburg on Wednesday at Max Molock Field, falling to the Auggies 5-2 in Game 1, before dropping a 17-5 decision in the nightcap | Recap
• Winona State: The Warriors went 3-1 in their two NSIC doubleheaders against the University of Sioux Falls last weekend, winning 7-1 and losing 8-5 on Friday, before sweeping the Cougars 4-0 and 11-0 on Saturday | USF Recap 1 * USF Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Winona State—Their Last Meeting:
• March 18, 2010: Saint Mary's had NCAA Division II Winona State right where they wanted them. Through seven-and-a-half innings, the Cardinals matched the Warriors hit-for-hit and run-for-run. Then came the bottom of the eighth, and one mistake turned a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 Winona State win, as WSU's Seth McMullen launched a two-run home run to lift the Warriors to the nonconference victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to conference play on Saturday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC doubleheader against Carleton
• Winona State: The Warriors are back in NSIC action this weekend, heading to St. Paul, Minn., for a pair of conference doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
The Cardinals' 5-2 loss to Augsburg in the opener Wednesday snapped their three-game winning streak. … The Auggies' 5-2, 17-5 sweep of Saint Mary's marked the first time this season the Cardinals have dropped back-to-back games this season. … The Cardinals head into their showdown with Winona State having won 11 of their last 16. … The Cardinals head into Thursday's game at the Warriors with a 21-8 overall record. It's the second time under coach Nick Winecke that Saint Mary's has eclipsed the 20-win plateau. The Cardinals finished 22-20 in 2012. … Saint Mary's 5-2 loss to Augsburg marked just the third time in 13 doubleheaders that the Cardinals have lost Game 1. … The Cardinals own two, five-game winning streaks and a four-gamer this season. … Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) belted a home run in the Cardinals' Game 2 loss vs. Augsburg Wednesday. It was Saint Mary's 12th home run in its last 10 games. … Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) delivered the Cardinals' first grand slam of the season in their six-run ninth inning against Macalester last Saturday. … Jake Barry's grand slam was the Cardinals' first since Jon Schlemmer hit on vs. Viterbo on April 5, 2012. … Jake Barry finished the second game of the Cardinals' sweep of Macalester with seven RBIs—marking the second time this season Saint Mary's has had a player drive in seven runs in a game. Schlemmer achieved the feat against Hamline on April 1. … As a team, the Cardinals are hitting .333 and boast three regulars—Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn. / .437), Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn. / .410), and Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis. / .404)—who are hitting above .400. … Buerkle leads the team in runs (37), hits (45), triples (4), total bases (71), slugging percentage (.689), and on-base percentage (.500). … Schlemmer owns the team lead in home runs with five and doubles (9) with Lursen, while also owning a team-best 34 RBIs. …  Doll has stolen a team- and conference-leading 19 bases, three more than Buerkle. … Buerkle, who had his season-opening 15-game hitting streak snapped in Game 1 vs. St. Thomas on March 30, has had at least one hit in 27 of the team's 29 games this season. … Buerkle has reached base safely in 28 of the Cardinals' 29 games this season and 67 times in 69 games as a Cardinal. … In his first two seasons, Buerkle has now put together season-opening hitting streaks of 20 and 15 games, respectively, and has had at least one hit in 64 of the 69 games he's played in a Cardinal uniform. … Saint Mary's has now belted 20 home runs this season—with Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.), Drew Denning (St. Paul, Minn.) and Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Wis.) all hitting their first collegiate round-trippers. … Doll has put together a team-high 14 multiple-hit games, one more than Buerkle, while Schlemmer and Buerkle share the team lead in multiple-RBI games with nine. … Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and Jacob Dawson (Oakdale, Minn.) collected the pitching wins for the Cardinals vs. Macalester last Saturday—it was Dawson's team-leading sixth win of the season, while Johnson improved to a perfect 4-0. … Johnson recorded his first collegiate shutout—and third collegiate complete game—with a six-hit gem against Gustavus on April 11. … Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Wis.), who collected his first collegiate save in Saint Mary's 7-5 Game 1 win over Macalester last Saturday, has thrown a pair of complete-game four-hitters this season—beating Saint John's 7-2 on April 4 and St. Thomas 3-0 on March 30. … The 3-0 win over St. Thomas was Scatassa's first collegiate shutout. … Dawson leads the team in wins (6) and ERA (2.88), while Scatassa is 4-2 with a 2.98 ERA in a team-leading 45.1 IP and Johnson is 4-0 with a 3.93 ERA. … Scatassa owns a team-high 39 strikeouts. … Dawson had his season-opening 17-inning scoreless streak snapped in the second inning against Aurora on March 21. … Dawson hurled his first collegiate complete game in a three-hit, seven-strikeout 1-0 shutout of Loras on March 5. … Ryan Fejt (Westchester, Ill.)—who has made a team-high 11 appearances—picked up his first collegiate save in Game 2 vs. Luther on April 8, while Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn.) owns a team-high two saves. … Saint Mary's scored 10 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning en route to its 13-11 Game 2 win over Luther on April 8. It was the second time this season the Cardinals have scored 10 runs in an inning—they plated 10 first-inning runs in a 20-2 victory over Hamline on April 1. … The Cardinals have scored 212 runs this season—including eight games of 10 or more runs. … The Cardinals have outscored their first 29 opponents 212-134—including 38-10 in the first inning and 33-9 in the fifth. … The Cardinals' 20 runs in their 20-2 victory over Hamline on April 1 were the most since 1995, when Saint Mary's beat Graceland 23-3 … Eleven different players had at least one RBI in Saint Mary's 20-2 win over the Pipers on April 1. … Saint Mary's is 18-3 when holding its opponent to five runs or less. On the flip side, the Cardinals are 17-1 when plating six or more runs. … The Cardinals are 20-0 when leading after the sixth inning. … The Cardinals' 3-0 win in Game 1 vs. St. Thomas on March 30 was their third shutout of the season—Saint Mary's also blanked Loras 1-0 on March 5 and Milwaukee School of Engineering 11-0 on March 1. … The Cardinals snapped three streaks with their 3-0 Game 1 win over St. Thomas on March 30. Saint Mary's ended a four-game losing streak vs. the Tommies—dating back to 4-2 win in the opening round of the 2013 MIAC Tournament. It was also the Cardinals' first regular-season victory over UST since a 5-4, Game 2 win on April 29, 2009—snapping a 10-game losing streak—while also ending the Tommies' 54-game home winning streak. … The Cardinals' 7-5 win over Wheaton on March 20 was coach Nick Winecke's 100th collegiate coaching victory.
 
Scouting The Winona State Warriors:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
Winona State's 7-1 Game 1 win over the University of Sioux Falls last Friday snapped their three-game losing streak. … WSU has surrendered seven or more runs in each of its last five losses. On the flip side, the Warriors have outscored their opponents 22-1 in their last four wins. … Mitchell Stalsberg tossed his first collegiate no-hitter in the Warriors' 11-0 Game 2 victory over the University of Sioux Falls last Saturday. … Stalsberg struck out a career-high 17 batters in recording the Warriors first no-hitter in nearly 10 years. Brandon Hellenbrand hurled WSU's last no-no in a 10-0 win over UM-Crookston on May 7, 2005. … Stalsberg's 17 strikeouts are the fourth-most in program history. The last time a WSU pitcher struck out more than 17 batters came on April 15, 1970, when Sam Shea fanned 18. … As a team, the Warriors are hitting .300, led by Mitchell Heid (.381), Tyler Nehring (.343), and Jesus Cazares (.339). … Nehring is the team-leader in at-bats (137), hits (47), RBIs (28), and slugging percentage (.629), while Travis Evanson (.324) has scored a team-leading 32 runs, and also leads the team in doubles (9), home runs (8), total bases (77). … The Warriors have belted 36 home runs through 38 games—and boast 11 players with at least one round-tripper. … As a team, Winona State has amassed 359 hits—including 53 doubles, three triples and 36 home runs. … The Warriors have five players who have collected 10 or more multiple-hit games, led by Jordan Plamann with 13 and Nehring with 12. … Nehring owns a team-leading nine multiple-RBI games. … Cazares put together a 14-game hitting streak earlier this season—he is one of three Warrior players to have a hitting streak of 12 or more games. … Heid reached base safely in 21 consecutive games earlier this year. … WSU boasts six pitchers who have logged 27 or more innings, led by Chase Blazier with 46.0 and Lucas Crimmins with 41.2. … Josh Nielsen 2-1, 5.00 ERA) has made a team-leading 13 appearances—all in relief—while Blazier (3-3, 3.13 ERA) and Hayden Krimmer (2-5, 5.20 ERA) have each made a team-best eight starts. … Blazier has thrown four complete games. … Mitch Voter (1-1, 0.57) has accounted for five of the team's six saves. … WSU pitchers have combined to strike out 274 batters, led by Stalsberg (2-2, 4.37 ERA) with 61. … The Warriors' 11-0 win over the University of Sioux Falls on Saturday marked the eighth time this season WSU has plated more than 10 runs. Winona State scored a season-high 18 runs in an 18-7 win over the University of Mary on March 29. … After opening the season 1-9, the Warriors are 16-12 over their last 28 games.