MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team hits the road on Wednesday, traveling to the University of Minnesota's Siebert Field for a 3 p.m. nine-inning nonconference game against the Gophers.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (12-5 Overall) at University of Minnesota Gophers (12-9 overall), 3 p.m.
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals came up empty in their nonconference doubleheader against UW-La Crosse on Tuesday, falling to the Eagles 9-2 and 8-1 at Max Molock Field | Recap
• Minnesota: The Gophers are coming off a 2-1 showing against No. 23 Missouri State last Friday and Saturday in Springfield, Mo. Minnesota lost the opener 5-4, before rebounding with 12-5 and 7-5 victories | Recap 1 * Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. Minnesota—Their Last Meeting:
• Today's game is the first in program history between the Cardinals and the Gophers.
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, hosting St. Thomas in a doubleheader at Max Molock Field. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
• Minnesota: The Gophers kick off Big Ten Conference play this weekend, hosting Iowa on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Siebert Field.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
•  The Cardinals' games against UW-La Crosse marked the second doubleheader played at Max Molock Field this season. Saint Mary's kicked off its home season with a nonconference split against St. Scholastica on March 12—the earliest outdoor games at Max Molock Field in program history. … Tuesday's 9-2 Game 1 loss to UW-La Crosse marked the first time this season the Cardinals have lost the first game of a doubleheader.  The Cardinals won Game 1 in 11 of their 16 doubleheaders a year ago. … After dropping its season-opener to Augustana, the Cardinals put together an eight-game winning streak—their longest since winning nine in a row in April, 2001. … Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Wis.) went 3-for-3 in the opening game against UW-La Crosse Tuesday, while the Cardinals' four hits in the nightcap came from four different players. … Ben Buerkle (Rossville, Minn.) boasts a team-leading .418 batting average, with Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn. / .373) and Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis. / .339) close behind. … Buerkle owns a team-leading 23 hits—one more than Kinne, two in front of Seegers, and three better than Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.). … Buerkle and Kinne share the team lead in doubles with six each, while Buerkle also boasts team-highs in triples (2), slugging percentage (.600), walks (17), and on-base percentage (.548). … Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) belted his team-leading third home run against Aurora on March 18. …  Kinne has accounted for the Cardinals' other round-tripper this season, belting his first collegiate HR vs. Concordia on Feb. 23. … Doll—who closed out the season with a team- and conference-leading 21 stolen bases a year ago, has stolen nine bases through 17 games this season, giving him a school-record 67 for his four-year career. … Buerkle has had a hit in 15 of the Cardinals' 17 games this season, and has reached base safely in all 17 games. … Kinne enters Wednesday's game vs. Minnesota riding a team-high nine-game hitting streak. … Buerkle, who had a hit in 34 of 36 games last season, has now collected at least one hit in 86 of the 93 games he's played in, and has been held off the base paths just twice in those 93 career contests. … Doll and Seegers own a team-high seven multiple-hit games, while Pieczynski, Buerkle, Barry, and Kinne share the team lead with three multiple-RBI games. … Kinne drove in a career-high five runs in the Cardinals' win over Concordia on Feb. 23. … Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn.) collected his team-leading third pitching win of the season against Cornell on March 19. … Mathwig, who also owns two of the team's five saves, has not allowed an earned run in 13.0 innings—going 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA. … Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) has logged a team-leading 26.1 innings, while Jacob Dawson (Oakdale, Minn. / 22.2 IP) and Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill. / 21.2 IP) have also thrown more than 20 innings this season. … Scatassa owns a 2-0 record and a 2.91 ERA, while Johnson has also picked up two wins, going 2-3 with a 6.49 ERA. … Johnson has made a team-high five starts, one more than Scatassa and Dawson, while Scatassa and Johnson share the team lead with 19 strikeouts. … Austin Jacobs (Cannon Falls, Minn.) recorded his first collegiate save with a perfect ninth inning in the Cardinals' 7-6 win over Cornell last Saturday. … Johnson's seven-hit, seven-strikeout performance against Houghton on Feb. 27 was his first complete game of the season and fifth of his collegiate career. … The Cardinals, who scored a school-record 274 runs in 2015, have plated 111 runs in 17 contests this season—including five games of 10 or more runs. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 111-89—including 16-9 in the first inning, 18-8 in the second, and 25-13 in the fifth. … Saint Mary's is 10-0 when scoring the game's first run. … Saint Mary's is unbeaten (10-0) when leading after the sixth inning. … The Cardinals have not lost (10-0) when scoring six or more runs. … Saint Mary's has been held to two runs or less in four of its five losses this season. … The Cardinals closed out 2015 boasting a 24-12 overall record—the most wins in a season since the Cardinals went 24-11 in 1995. … The Cardinals have now won 20 or more games twice under coach Nick Winecke—Saint Mary's finished 22-20 in 2012. … The Cardinals' 7-5 win over Wheaton on March 20, 2015 was coach Winecke's 100^th collegiate coaching victory.
 
Scouting The Minnesota Golden Gophers:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• With their 12-5, 7-5 wins over No. 23 Missouri State last Saturday, the Gophers head into Wednesday's showdown with Saint Mary's having won three of their last four. … Wednesday's game vs. Saint Mary's is the second against a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team—the Gophers beat Augsburg 10-3 on March 22. … Minnesota's 10-3 win over Augsburg marked the Gophers' earliest outdoor home game since 1900. … With their two wins over No. 23 Missouri State last Saturday, the Gophers recorded back-to-back wins against ranked opponents for the first time since 2004, when Minnesota took down No. 14 Nebraska and No. 22 Florida. … The Gophers notched 36 hits in their three games against No. 23 Missouri State last weekend, led by Connor Schaefbauer, who went 8-for-14 with two doubles and a triple. … As a team, the Gophers are hitting .331, led by Austin Athmann (.406), Terrin Vavra (.395), and Matt Fielder (.384). … Fielder is the team-leader in at-bats (86), runs (18), and hits (33). … Athmann owns a team-best 10 doubles and four home runs, while amassing a .750 slugging percentage and .479 on-base percentage. … Micah Coffey is the team's RBI lead with 17, one more than Athmann. … The Gophers boast four pitchers—Fiedler (34.2), Dalton Sawyer (32.1), Tyler Hanson (27.0), and Toby Anderson (21.1)—who have logged 20 or more innings this season. … Sawyer (3-2, 3.90 ERA) and Fiedler (3-2, 4.15 ERA) share the team lead in wins with three each, while Brian Glowicki (0-2, 1.64 ERA), Jordan Jess (0-0, 6.48 ERA), and Fred Manke (0-0, 7.15) have all made a team-high seven appearances. … Fiedler owns the team's lone complete game, tossing a two-hit shutout against Georgia State on March 4. … Sawyer is the team's strikeout leader with 38, 10 more than Fiedler. … The Gophers have played one extra-inning game this season, falling to Georgia State 4-3 in 10 innings on March 5. … Minnesota has scored 10 or more runs five times this season—including a season-high 13 in a 13-5 win over Utah Valley on March 18. On the flip side, the Gophers' have allowed more than 10 runs in a game three times—including 15 in a 15-6 loss to Utah Valley on March 20.