NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, heading to Mark Almli Field for a 1 p.m. doubleheader against St. Olaf.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-5 MIAC | 15-11-1 Overall) St. Olaf Oles (1-5 MIAC | 7-14 overall), 1 p.m.
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats (not available)
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take an 11-8 lead in their nine-inning nonconference game against UW-Oshkosh, but the Titans answered with three runs in the top of the ninth, and, after a scoreless 10^th, the game was halted on account of darkness, tied 11-11 | Recap
• St. Olaf: Tim Maus scored belted grand slam home run, drove in six runs, and scored twice, but it was not enough, as UW-Stout rallied from a 9-2 deficit to beat the Oles 15-10 Thursday in Northfield, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Olaf—Their Last Meeting:
• May 6, 2014 * Northfield, Minn.: Needing one win to lock up their third straight MIAC Tournament berth, the Cardinals wasted no time punching their post-season ticket, beating the Oles 6-2 in the opener of their regular season-ending conference doubleheader. The Cardinals then completed their third straight conference sweep—earning the MIAC Tournament's No. 3 seed in the process—with a convincing 8-2 victory over the Oles in the nightcap | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return home on Wednesday, hosting Augsburg in a 2:30 p.m. conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
• St. Olaf: After back-to-back home games, the Oles hit the road on Wednesday, heading to Collegeville, Minn., for a 2:30 p.m. MIAC twinbill against Saint John's.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• The Cardinals' 11-11, 10-inning tie against the Titans Friday marked the second time in as many meetings that Saint Mary's and UW-Oshkosh have gone to extra innings. Saint Mary's beat UW-Oshkosh 1-0 in 14 meetings in their last meeting on March 25, 2012. … The Cardinals have now gone to extra innings in each of their last two games—Saint Mary's dropped a 7-6, 10-inning decision to Hamline on Tuesday. … The back-to-back 10-inning games are the first two extra-inning contests of the season for the Cardinals. … Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) went 4-for-5 against UW-Oshkosh Friday, while Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) was 3-for-5. … Kinne has now gone 9-for-13 with seven RBIs in his last three games—the junior went 6-for-8 with five RBIs in the Cardinals' split against Hamline on Tuesday. … Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Minn.) went 5-for-6 in the Saint Mary's 10-inning Game 2 loss to Hamline Tuesday. … Pieczynski's Game 2 effort was the first five-hit game of his collegiate career. … Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.) belted a pair of home runs and drove in seven runs in the Cardinals' split against Saint John's last Sunday. … Lursen's home runs were his first two of the season, while his ninth-inning Game 2 grand slam was the first of his collegiate career. … With his four hits against UW-Oshkosh, Doll moved into the team lead with his .386 batting average. … Doll also leads the Cardinals in at-bats (101) and hits (39). … Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.), who had his season-high 14-game hitting streak snapped in Game 2 against Hamline Tuesday, is second to Doll in batting average, hitting .378, while leading the team in runs (29), doubles (11), slugging percentage (.544), walks (26), and on-base percentage (.517). … Buerkle, who induced a pair of walks against UW-Oshkosh Friday, has now walked five times in his last two games. … Buerkle has reached base safely in all 27 contests this season. … Buerkle—who hit safely in 34 of 36 games a year ago—has had a hit in 24 of the Cardinals' 27 games this season, and has now collected at least one hit in 95 of the 102 games he's played in. … Buerkle has been held off the base paths just twice in 102 career contests. … Kinne delivered his team-leading third triple of the season against UW-Oshkosh Friday. … Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) owns a team-best three home runs, while Lursen (2) and Kinne (2) have hit the Cardinals' other four round-trippers. … Kinne's home run against Concordia on Feb. 23 was the first of his collegiate career. … Kinne, who leads the team with 28 RBIs, recorded his second five-RBI effort of the season in Game 1 against Gustavus on April 6. The junior also achieved the feat against Concordia on Feb. 23. … Doll—who closed out the season with a team- and conference-leading 21 stolen bases a year ago, collected his team-leading 14^th steal of the season against UW-Oshkosh Friday, giving him a school-record 72 for his four-year career. … With his two RBIs against UW-Oshkosh Friday, Kinne has now recorded a team-high seven multiple-RBI games. … Ryan Fejt (Westchester, Ill.) worked two innings of scoreless, one-hit relief in earning his third win of the season in Game 1 against Hamline Tuesday. … Fejt (3-0, 1.02 ERA) moved into a tie with Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) for the team lead in wins with three each. … Scatassa (3-1, 3.28 ERA) picked up his third win of the year last Sunday in the opener against Saint John's, allowing just two runs on two hits in six innings of work. … Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn.) collected his team-leading fifth save against Hamline. The sophomore owns a team-best 1.02 ERA and shares the team lead in appearances (10) with Fejt. … Scatassa has logged a team-high 35.2 innings, while Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / 33.0 IP), Jacob Dawson (Oakdale, Minn. / 33.0 IP) and Austin Jacobs (Cannon Falls, Minn. / 23.2 IP) have also thrown more than 20 innings this season. … Scatassa owns a 3-1 record and a 3.28 ERA, while Johnson (2-3, 7.50 ERA) and Fejt (2-0, 5.27 ERA) both own two pitching wins. … Scatassa and Johnson have each made a team-high seven starts. … Scatassa is also the team's strikeout leader with 28. … Eli Morrison (Minneapolis, Minn. / 1-1, 2.38 ERA) and Jesse Barron (Minnetonka, Minn. / 1-1, 4.38 ERA) have both notched their first collegiate pitching wins this season—Morrison's coming in a start against Houghton on Feb. 27 (4 IP, 0 R, 4 H) and Barron's coming in relief vs. Elmira on Feb. 25 (2.2 IP, 1 R, 3 H). … Jacobs (1-3, 5.32 ERA) recorded his first collegiate save with a perfect ninth inning in the Cardinals' 7-6 win over Cornell on March 18. … Johnson's seven-hit, seven-strikeout performance against Houghton on Feb. 27 is the team's only complete game this season and was the fifth of his collegiate career. … The Cardinals, who scored a school-record 274 runs in 2015, have plated 162 runs in 27 contests this season—including six games of 10 or more runs. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 22-10 in the second innings and 30-20 in the sixth. … Saint Mary's is 12-3 when scoring the game's first run. … Saint Mary's is unbeaten (12-0-1) when leading after the sixth inning. … Saint Mary's has been held to two runs or less in seven of its 11 losses this season. … The Cardinals' 10-7 Game 1 win over Gustavus on April 6 snapped their season-high five-game losing streak. … The Cardinals went through a five-game stretch this season in which four games were against nationally ranked teams—No. 18 UW-La Crosse and No. 21 St. Thomas—while the other contest was vs. NCAA Division I University of Minnesota. … Saint Mary's 9-1 loss to the University of Minnesota on March 30 marked the first time the Cardinals and Gophers had squared off in program history. … 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. … Saint Mary's March 12 twinbill against St. Scholastica marked the earliest outdoor games played at Max Molock Field in more than 20 years. … 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 St. Olaf Oles:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• Saturday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's is the third straight home date for the Oles, who are still searching for their first win at Mark Almli Field (0-3). … St. Olaf's 15-10 loss to UW-Stout on Thursday pushed the Oles' losing streak to a season-high five straight. … St. Olaf's 15-10 loss to UW-Stout marked the second time this season the Oles have scored 10 or more runs in a losing effort—St. Olaf also lost to Concordia 14-13 on April 3. … The Blue Devils' 15 runs Thursday marked the sixth time this season St. Olaf has surrendered 10 or more runs, and was just one run shy of the season-high 16 the Oles gave up in a 16-0 loss to UW-Whitewater on March 22. … Tim Maus went 2-for-4 with a grand slam home run and six RBIs in the Oles' loss to UW-Stout Thursday. … With his 2-for-4 effort against UW-Stout, Maus pushed his team-leading batting average to .389. … Maus and Joe Keiski (.354) are the only Oles hitting above .300 heading into Saturday's games against Saint Mary's. … Maus also leads the team in at-bats (72), runs (16), hits (28), triples 91), total bases (38), and on-base percentage (.451). … As a team, St. Olaf has belted 12 home runs this season, led by Sam Stuckmayer (.275) with five. … Stuckmayer is also the team-leader in RBIs with 18. … The Oles have stolen 12 bases in 17 attempts this season, led by Kap Davis (.276) with five. … Maus, Davis, and Nate Bauer are the only Oles to have started all 20 games this season. … St. Olaf boasts seven pitchers who have logged 10 or more innings this season—led by Nate Gelle (26.1 IP) and Luke Dahl (22.2 IP). … Dahl (1-2, 4.37 ERA) and Gelle (0-3, 5.13 ERA) have each made a team-high four stars, and both own one complete game. … Nate Marshall (1-1, 5.79) ERA has made a team-leading eight appearances—all in relief. … Dahl is also the team's strikeout leader with 16, two more than Kade Cronin (3-2, 5.89 ERA). … St. Olaf has outscored its opponents 18-8 in the first inning and own a 30-19 scoring edge in the fifth. … The Oles are winless (0-8) when held to two runs or less, while going 6-3 when scoring six or more runs. … St. Olaf is 0-4 when its opponent scores in the first inning, and 1-9 when its opponent plates the game's first run. … The Oles have played two extra-inning games this season—falling to Saint Joseph's 7-6 in 11 innings and to Concordia 14-13 in eight innings.