ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, traveling to Gustavus for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader against the Gusties
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-2 MIAC | 12-8 Overall) at Gustavus Gusties (0-0 MIAC | 7-7 overall), 1 p.m.
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals dropped both games of their MIAC doubleheader against St. Thomas last Sunday, falling 4-1 in Game 1 and 10-3 in Game 2 | Recap
• Gustavus: The Gusties climbed to the .500 mark on the season on Monday, collecting a pair of nonconference wins over Martin Luther in their home opener—beating the Knights 12-2 and 9-2 in St. Peter, Minn. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Gustavus—Their Last Meeting:
• April 11, 2015 * Winona, Minn.: Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) tossed a complete-game, nine-inning shutout—scattering just seven hits, while striking out three—in guiding the Cardinals to a 2-0 victory in the second game of their MIAC twinbill against Gustavus at Max Molock Field. The Gusties opened the day with a 3-1 victory, holding the high-powered Cardinals to just one run on seven hits | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return home on Saturday, hosting Saint John's in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
• Gustavus: x
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016 Roster | 2016 Statistics | 2016 Schedule
• Four of the Cardinals' five games last week came against nationally ranked teams—No. 18 UW-La Crosse and No. 21 St. Thomas—while the other contest was against NCAA Division I University of Minnesota. … The Cardinals head into their doubleheader against Gustavus looking to put an end to a season-high five-game losing streak. … Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) led the Cardinal offense in its conference-opening DH against No. 21 St. Thomas last Sunday, going 1-for-3 in the opener and 3-for-4 in the nightcap. … Doll's Game 2 effort vs. the Tommies was the senior's first three-hit game of the season and marked the team-leading ninth time this season he has collected two or more hits in a game. … Ben Buerkle, who had a hit in both games vs. St. Thomas, boasts a team-leading .403 batting average, while also leading the Cardinals in runs (19), hits (27), doubles (8), triples (2), total bases (39), slugging percentage (.582), walks (17), and on-base percentage (.518). … Buerkle is one of five Cardinals hitting above .300 this season—Jacob Frost (Moline, Ill. / .385), Doll (.356), Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn. / .319), and Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis. / .300) are the others. … 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, launching 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 10 bases through 20 games this season, giving him a school-record 68 for his four-year career. … Buerkle has had a hit in 18 of the Cardinals' 20 games this season, and has reached base safely in all 20 contests. … Buerkle, who had a hit in 34 of 36 games last season, has now collected at least one hit in 89 of the 96 games he's played in, and has been held off the base paths just twice in those 94 career contests. … Buerkle heads into the Cardinals' DH at Gustavus riding the team's longest active hitting streak at nine. Kinne and Doll have also put together nine-game hitting streaks this season. … Buerkle, Barry, Kinne, and Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Minn.) 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, owns a 3-0 record and a team-best 1.32 ERA in 13.2 IP. … Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) has logged a team-leading 29.2 innings, while Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / 26.1 IP), and Jacob Dawson (Oakdale, Minn. / 22.2 IP) have also thrown more than 20 innings this season. … Scatassa—who held the Gophers to no runs on two hits in two innings of work on March 30—owns a 2-1 record and a 3.34 ERA, while Johnson has also picked up two wins, going 2-3 with a 6.49 ERA. … Scatassa has made a team-high six starts, one more than Johnson. … Scatassa is also the team's strikeout lead with 27. … Eli Morrison (Minneapolis, Minn. / 1-0, 1.42 ERA) and Jesse Barron (Minnetonka, Minn. / 1-1, ,4.15 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). … Austin Jacobs (Cannon Falls, Minn. / 1-2, 4.12 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 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 116 runs in 18 contests this season—including five games of 10 or more runs. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 116-112—including 17-12 in the first inning, 18-8 in the second, and 25-17 in the fifth. … Saint Mary's is 10-1 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 six of its eight losses this season. … 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 Gustavus Gusties:
2016 Roster | 2016 Schedule | 2016 Statistics
• With their sweep of Martin Luther Monday, the Gusties pushed their winning streak to a season-high five straight. … Gustavus' 10-0 win over Middlebury on March 28 snapped its season-high five-game losing streak. … John Lundquist went 3-for-3 with a double, triple, and four RBI's in GAC's 12-2, five-inning Game 1 win over Martin Luther Monday, while four Gusties collected two hits in the 9-2 win in the nightcap. … Logan Thomas heads into the Gusties showdown with Saint Mary's boasting a team-leading .476 batting average, while Josh Chatfield (.383), Daniel Carlson (.383), Lundquist (.356), Sam Warner (.349), and Brock Peterson (.317) are also hitting above .300. … GAC boasts seven players who have collected 10 or more hits through 14 games, led by Chatfield and Carlson with 18, and Lundquist with 16. … Carlson has scored a team-high 16 runs, while Chatfield leads the team in doubles (5), triples (2), RBIs (16), total bases (30), and slugging percentage (.638). … Chatfield and Lundquist have accounted for the Gusties' two home runs this season. … Gustavus has four players—Lundquist, Sam Warner, Carlson, and Chatfield—with five multiple-hit games, while Chatfield and Lundquist also lead the team with five multiple-RBI games. … Chatfield put together a season-high 10-game hitting streak earlier this season—Carlson's six-game hit streak is currently the Gusties' longest active streak. … Carlson has reached base safely in 11 straight games. … Kyle Pinke tossed a complete-game four-hitter in the opener against Martin Luther Monday—including just one run and two hits over the game's final four innings. Sam Archer, meanwhile, recorded his first collegiate win, allowing one run on one hit in five innings of work. … Gustavus has five pitchers who have logged 10 or more innings this season, led by Connor Kern (2-1, 3.05 ERA) and Jacob Volness (1-2, 2.88 ERA) with 18.1 and 17.0 IP, respectively. … Volness and Kern have each made a team-high three starts, while Volness, Kern, Carlson, and Pinke have all tossed complete games. … With their 12-2 Game 1 win over Martin Luther Monday, the Gusties have now scored 10 or more runs in four of their last six games—including a season-high 16 run effort in a 16-7 win over Williams on March 30. … Gustavus has outscored its opponents 83-79, including 12-6 in the third inning and 13-3 in the fourth. … The Gusties have held their opponents to two runs or less in four of their seven wins. … Gustavus has scored first just three times in their first 14 games—going 2-1 in those three contests. … Eight of Gustavus' first 14 games have been decided by two runs or less.