WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team steps out of conference play on Wednesday, hosting Luther in a pair of nonconference games at Max Molock Field. Game 1 kicks off at 2:30 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (16-5 Overall) vs. Luther Norse (10-10 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals picked up a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference wins Saturday in Collegeville, Minn., beating Saint John's 7-2 in Game 1, before completing the sweep with a 9-6 victory in the nightcap | Recap
• Luther: The Norse went 2-2 in their home-opening weekend of Iowa Conference play last weekend, splitting a pair of doubleheaders against Coe in Decorah, Iowa. Luther won the opener in both DH, 5-3 and 3-2, while dropping Game 2 6-4 and 13-8 | Recap 1 * Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Luther—Their Last Meeting:
• April 21, 2014: The first inning could not have gone any better for Saint Mary's in its nine-inning nonconference game against Luther, as the Cardinals jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, the second, third and fourth innings didn't go quite so well, as the Norse scored  eight unanswered runs—before holding off a late Saint Mary's rally—to beat the Cardinals 11-7 in Decorah, Iowa | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals hit the road on Thursday, traveling to Copeland Park in La Crosse, Wis., for a pair of nonconference games against Viterbo. Opening pitch is slated for 5 p.m.
• Luther: This Norse return to their home diamond on Friday and Saturday,  hosting Loras in a pair of Iowa Conference doubleheaders in Decorah, Iowa.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
With their 7-2 Game 1 win over Saint John's on Saturday, the Cardinals have now won the first game in all three of their conference doubleheaders this season—and in eight of their nine twinbills overall. … With their two wins vs. Saint John's, Saint Mary's has now won six of its last eight games. … The Cardinals have not dropped back-to-back games this season, while putting together a pair of five-game winning streaks. … The Cardinals blasted five home runs in their sweep of Saint John's last Saturday. Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) led the way with a round-tripper in both games vs. the Johnnies, while Kevin Miley (St. Paul, Minn.), Drew Denning (St. Paul, Minn.), and Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.) accounted for the other three. … Lursen drove in a career-high five runs in the Cardinals' 9-6 Game 2 win over SJU last Saturday. … The Cardinals' 20 runs in their 20-2 victory over Hamline last Wednesday were the most since 1995, when Saint Mary's beat Graceland 23-3 … Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) went 3-for-4 with seven RBIs in Game 1 vs. Hamline—including a pair of two-run singles in the Cardinals' 10-run first inning—then added three more hits, and two more RBIs, in five at-bats in the nightcap. … Eleven different players had at least one RBI in Saint Mary's 20-2 win over the Pipers last Wednesday. … As a team, the Cardinals are hitting .334 and boast eight regulars who are hitting above .300. … Buerkle, Lursen and Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) lead the way for the Cardinals at the plate, hitting .447, .444, and .400, respectively. … Along with his team-best batting average, Buerkle also leads the team in runs (30), hits (34), doubles (6), triples (2), home runs (4), RBIs (24), total bases (56), slugging percentage (.737) and on-base percentage (.506). … Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.), who has induced a team-best 10 walks, has stolen a team-leading 11 bases, one more than Buerkle. … Buerkle, who had his season-opening 15-game hitting streak snapped in Game 1 vs. St. Thomas on March 30, collected hits in both games vs. Saint John's and has now had at least one hit in 20 of the team's 21 games this season. … Buerkle has reached base safely in all 21 games this season and 60 times in 61 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 57 of the 61 games he's played in a Cardinal uniform. … With their five round-trippers against Saint John's last Saturday, Saint Mary's has now belted 13 home runs this season, led by Buerkle with four. Lursen, Denning and Miley have all launched two HRs, while Schlemmer, Doll, and Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Wis.) hit Saint Mary's other three 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. … Buerkle has put together a team-high 12 multiple-hit games—one more than Doll—while Buerkle and Schlemmer share the team lead in multiple-RBI games with seven each. … Scatassa tossed his second straight four-hit, complete game in the Cardinals' 7-2 win over Saint John's last Saturday. … Scatassa tossed his first collegiate shutout with a complete-game four-hitter against nationally ranked St. Thomas on March 30, before notching complete game No. 2 of the season—and No. 4 of his career—with another four-hit gem in a 7-2 Game 1 win over Saint John's last Saturday. … With his showing against the Johnnies, Scatassa improved to 3-0 with a team-best 2.40 ERA in 30.0 IP. … Jacob Dawson (Oakdale, Minn.) notched his team-leading fifth win of the season with a Game 2 win vs. Saint John's last Saturday. … Dawson (5-1, 2.48 ERA) has logged a team-best 32.2 IP in six starts. … Scatassa owns a team-high 28 strikeouts, five more than Dawson. … 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.) 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. … Mathwig owns both of the Cardinals' saves this season. … The Cardinals have scored 160 runs this season—including six games of 10 or more runs. … The Cardinals have outscored their first 21 opponents 160-87—including 32-4 in the first inning, 21-5 in the second and 29-6 in the fifth. … Saint Mary's is 13-1 when holding its opponent to five runs or less. On the flip side, the Cardinals are 13-0 when plating six or more runs. … The Cardinals are 15-0 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 Luther Norse:
2015 Roster | 2015 Statistics | 2015 Schedule
Wednesday's games against Saint Mary's will be the fifth and sixth against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Norse have already played Carleton (W, 10-2), Augsburg (L, 5-3; W, 7-4), and Hamline (L, 9-2). … With their showing last weekend, three of Luther's last four games have been decided by two runs or less. … Luther has scored 10 or more runs in seven of its 10 victories this season—including a three-game span in which the Norse beat Simpson 14-0, 13-5, and 12-6. … Luther has lost back-to-back games just once this season—falling to Wartburg 5-0 and 8-6. … As a team, the Norse are hitting .303, and boast six players hitting above .300. … Carlos Pineda is hitting a team-leading .420, followed by Aldon Severson (.356), Matt Larson (.341), David Lowe (.329), Andrew Burgmeier (.326), Mitch Knippenberg (.315), and Joe Silversmith (.303). … Severson owns team-highs in hits (26), triples (3), and total bases (41). … Knippenberg and Silversmith have scored a team-best 17 runs, one more than Severson, while Knippenberg has belted a team-high nine doubles. … Luther has hit nine home runs through 20 games, including two HRs each from Pineda, Severson, Silversmith, and Zach Hendrikson. … The Norse have stolen 31 bases on 36 attempts, led by Silverson and Alex Weber with seven each. … Luther boasts six pitchers who have logged 10 or more innings, led by Alec Knop (1-4, 6.03 ERA) with 34.1 IP and Teddy Klingsporn (3-0, 1.82 ERA), 29.2 IP. … Klingsporn and Blake Peterson (3-1, 5.24 ERA) share the team lead in wins with three each, while Andrew Withers (0-2, 5.40 ERA) has made a team-high 10 appearances. … David Lowe (0-0, 0.00) has collected three of the team's four saves.