MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team hits the road on Tuesday, as the Cardinals head to Concordia for a 1 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against the Cobbers.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (9-5 MIAC | 24-6 Overall) at Concordia Cobbers (8-6 MIAC | 21-9 Overall)
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals flexed their muscles in sweeping Carleton in a battle of third-place teams on Saturday in Northfield, Minn., as Saint Mary's beat the Knights 17-3 in Game 1 and completed the sweep with a 13-3, seven-inning victory in Game 2 | Recap
• Concordia: Concordia put up 22 hits, nine extra-base hits, and 18 runs as the Cobbers earned a 4-2 win in the opener and then dropped a football-like 15-14 decision in the nightcap in their MIAC doubleheader against Augsburg Saturday in Minneapolis, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia—Earlier This Year:
• March 2, 2015: Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Wis.) belted the Cardinals' fourth home run of the day—a pinch-hit, three-run, walk-off shot in the bottom of the eighth inning—as Saint Mary's rallied from a 7-5 deficit to beat Concordia 8-7 in Game 1 of the teams' nonconference doubleheader in Winter Haven, Fla. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it was the Cobbers who did the flexing in the rematch, belting a pair of home runs in handing Saint Mary's a 6-2 setback, and earning Concordia a split in the twinbill | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia—A Year Ago:
• April 26, 2014: Saint Mary's made sure of one thing against Concordia—there would be no walk-off heroics. After three straight heartbreaking losses—with all three coming on walk-off hits in their opponent's final at-bat—the Cardinals raced out to a big lead and never looked back in handing Concordia a 7-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback in the opening game of their doubleheader at Max Molock Field. And it was more of the same in Game 2, as the Cardinals used a seven-run fourth inning to lift them to a 9-6 victory—and a key conference sweep | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back in action on Sunday, when they close out the conference regular-season schedule with a doubleheader against league-leading Bethel at Max Molock Field. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
• Concordia: The Cobbers close out their regular-season schedule on Saturday, as Concordia entertains Carleton in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader in Moorhead, Minn.
 
MIAC Playoff Chase:
• With four games remaining in the regular season, the Cardinals find themselves tied for second in the conference standings with Saint John's, one game in front of Concordia and St. Thomas. Bethel—Saint Mary's final regular-season opponent—is currently sitting atop the conference standings at 13-3, followed by Saint Mary's and Saint John's at 9-5. Concordia and St. Thomas are currently at 8-6 and Hamline is sixth at 8-8.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
The Cardinals enter their final four conference games looking to lock up their fourth straight berth in the MIAC Playoffs. … With their sweep of Carleton on Saturday, Saint Mary's improved to 24-8—the most wins in a season since the Cardinals went 24-11 in 1995. The last time Saint Mary's won more than 24 games in a season was in 1993, when the Cardinals finished 26-7 and placed second in the NCAA Midwest Regional. … The Cardinals have now won 20 or more games twice under coach Nick Winecke—Saint Mary's finished 22-20 in 2012. … With their 17- and 13-run outbursts vs. Carleton on Saturday, the Cardinals have now scored 10 or more runs in each of their last four wins—having also beaten Winona State (10-9) and Macalester (16-3). … With their 10-9 win over Winona State on Thursday, the Cardinals snapped a 13-game losing streak against their NCAA Division II cross-town rivals—dating back to a 3-2, 12-3 Saint Mary's sweep during the 1992 season. … The Cardinals enter Tuesday's DH at Concordia having won 14 of their last 19 games. … The Cardinals' 5-2, 17-5 loss to Augsburg last Wednesday marked the first time this season Saint Mary's has dropped back-to-back games this season. … Saint Mary's has won Game 1 in 11 of its 14 doubleheaders this season. … The Cardinals own two, five-game winning streaks and a four-gamer this season. … Kevin Miley (St. Paul, Minn.) and Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) each hit home runs against Carleton last Saturday, giving the Cardinals six home runs in their last three games—and 17 in their last 13 contests. … Miley launched the Cardinals' second grand slam of the season in the first inning of the opener against Carleton, while Buerkle laced a three-run shot in Game 2. … Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) delivered the Cardinals' first grand slam of the season in their six-run ninth inning against Macalester on April 18. … Jake Barry's grand slam was the Cardinals' first since Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) hit one vs. Viterbo on April 5, 2012. … Saint Mary's blasted four home runs against Winona State last Thursday—two from Miley and one each from Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) and Drew Denning (St. Paul, Minn.). … Miley is the first Cardinal to hit two home runs in a game since Schlemmer did it—twice—during the 2012 season. … Jake Barry finished the second game of the Cardinals' sweep of Macalester on April 18 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. … Buerkle hit for a doubleheader cycle vs. Carleton Saturday—recording two singles, a double, a triple and a home run, not to mention nine RBIs. … As a team, the Cardinals are hitting .343 and boast three regulars—Buerkle (.435), Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn. / .430), and Doll (.403)—who are hitting above .400. … Buerkle leads the team in runs (42), hits (52), triples (4), total bases (84), RBIs (42), slugging percentage (.718), and on-base percentage (.500). … Schlemmer and Buerkle share the team lead in home runs (5). … Doll stole a pair of bases against Carleton Saturday, pushing his team- and conference-leading total to 21, three more than Buerkle. … Doll's 21 stolen bases this season rank second all-time—two back of his school-record 23 set a year ago, while his 58 career stolen bases are the most in program history. … Buerkle has had at least one hit in 30 of the team's 32 games this season. … Buerkle has reached base safely in 31 of the Cardinals' 32 games this season and 70 times in 72 career games as a Cardinal. … In his first two seasons, Buerkle has put together season-opening hitting streaks of 20 and 15 games, respectively, and has had at least one hit in 67 of the 72 games he's played in a Cardinal uniform. … Saint Mary's has belted 26 home runs this season—with Jake Barry, Drew Denning (St. Paul, Minn.) and Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Wis.) all hitting their first collegiate round-trippers. … Buerkle has now put together a team-high 17 multiple-hit games, one more than Doll. … Buerkle also owns a team-best 12 multiple-RBI games. … Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) enters Tuesday's showdown vs. Concordia with a team-best 2.98 ERA in nine appearances—including seven starts. … Scatassa, 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. … Scatassa owns a team-high 39 strikeouts. … Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and Jacob Dawson (Oakdale, Minn.) collected the pitching wins for the Cardinals vs. Carleton last Saturday—it was Dawson's team-leading seventh win of the season, while Johnson improved to a perfect 5-0. … Johnson recorded his first collegiate shutout—and third collegiate complete game—with a six-hit gem against Gustavus on April 11. … 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 two of the team's other three saves. … Saint Mary's scored a season-high 11 runs in the first inning of Game 1 against Carleton last Saturday. It was the third time this season the Cardinals have scored 10 or more runs in an inning this season—they scored 10 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning en route to its 13-11 Game 2 win over Luther on April 8, and 10 first-inning runs in a 20-2 victory over Hamline on April 1. … The Cardinals have scored 252 runs this season—including 11 games of 10 or more runs. … The Cardinals have outscored their first 32 opponents 252-149—including 49-11 in the first inning and 34-11 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 20-3 when holding its opponent to five runs or less. On the flip side, the Cardinals are 20-1 when plating six or more runs—including a perfect 11-0 recording when scoring 10 or more. … The Cardinals are 23-0 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 Concordia Cobbers:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
The Cobbers' 15-14 Game 2 loss to Augsburg last Saturday snapped their three game winning streak. … Concordia heads into Tuesday's showdown with Saint Mary's having won 10 of its 16 games in April. … Concordia has lost more than one game in a row just once this season, losing both games to Saint John's on April 1 as part of the Cobbers' only three-game losing streak of the season. … The Cobbers' No.2 through No.7 hitters had 19 of the team's 22 hits in their conference split against Augsburg on Saturday. Aaron Green went 4-for-9 with four RBIs—all four coming on a grand slam home run in the seventh inning of Game 2 vs. the Auggies. … Concordia heads into Tuesday's showdown with Saint Mary's hitting .342 as a team, led by Eric Carlsen (.507) and Nick Bornhauswer (.450). … Bornhauser—who hit just .167 with two extra-base hits all of last season—leads the Cobbers in runs (37), hits (45), doubles (16), RBIs (40), total bases (80), slugging percentage (.800), walks (12), and one-base percentage (.517). … Bornhauser's double total is tied for the single-season record, while his 80 RBIs are four short of the single-season school record, and he needs just 19 more bases to tie head coach Chris Coste for the total base mark. … Green's grand slam home run vs. Augsburg last Saturday was his team-leading seventh of the season. … CC has now belted 28 home runs, led by Green (7) and Bornhauser (5). … Bornhauser and Green have each put together 14 multiple-hit games, while Bornhauswer also leads the team with 11 multiple-RBI performances. … CC boasts five players who have driven in four runs in a game this season—including Carlsen, who has done it twice. … Ross Merriman (5-2, 4.72 ERA) has logged a team-high 40.0 innings and is one of eight Cobber pitchers to have thrown more than 10 innings this season. … Merriman's five wins are a team high, one more than Bill Jacobson (4-1, 3.41 ERA) and Tanner Kluis (4-0, 5.45 ERA), and Kyle Connelly (4-2, 5.63 ERA). … Bryce Feia (0-1, 2.55 ERA) has made a team-high 15 pitching appearances—all in relief—and owns all nine of the team's saves. … Connelly boasts a team-best 25 strikeouts, while Kluis (23), Merriman (23), and Feia (20) have also eclipsed the 20-strikeout plateau this season. … The Cobbers have outscored their opponents in every inning but the ninth—including 40-13 in the third, 60-21 in the fourth and 35-7 in the seventh. … The Cobbers' 15-14 loss to Augsburg last Saturday marked the first time this season CC has lost when scoring 10 or more runs (12-1). … Concordia is 11-0 when holding its opponents to two runs or less. … The Cobbers, who own a 10-1 record when scoring in the first inning, are 19-0 when leading after the sixth inning.