WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team is back in action on Tuesday, as the Cardinals host St. Scholastica in a 2:30 p.m. nonconference game at Max Molock FIeld.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (9-5 Overall) vs. St. Scholastica Saints (5-5 Overall), 2:30 p.m.
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—March 22, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals put an end to a two-game hitting streak, banging out 15 hits—including 3-for-5 performances from both Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) and Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.)—en route to a 9-6 nonconference win over Viterbo Wednesday at Max Molock Field | Recap
• St. Scholastica—March 18, 2017 * Auburndale, Fla.: The Saints wrapped up their 10-game spring trip on a high note, shutting out Webster 3-0 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Scholastica—Their Last Meeting:
• March 12, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Temperatures in the 60s, sun shining … it was a picture-perfect day at Max Molock Field. Unfortunately for Saint Mary's, St. Scholastica had to rain on the Cardinals' parade. Saint Mary's got a two-run double by Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) in a three-run sixth inning to lead the Cardinals to a 3-1 victory in Game 1 of the teams' nonconference doubleheader, but the Saints answered by scoring six runs in the first three innings in handing the Cardinals an 8-3 setback in the nightcap | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to the diamond on Wednesday, traveling to La Crosse, Wis., for a nonconference doubleheader against UW-La Crosse. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
• St. Scholastica: The Saints hit the road on Wednesday, traveling to Whitewater, Wis., for a nonconference doubleheader against UW-Whitewater. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• The Cardinals' 9-6 win over Viterbo last Wednesday snapped their season-high two-game losing streak. … Saint Mary's banged out 15 hits against Viterbo Wednesday—just four shy of its season-high 19-hit onslaught against Finlandia on March 1. … Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) and Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) each went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored to pace the Cardinals against Viterbo Wednesday, while Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis.) and Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) both chipped in two hits. … Eight of the Cardinals' nine starters had at least one hit vs. the V-Hawks Wednesday. … R.J. Brown (Broadview, Ill.)—who posted the Cardinals' first no-hitter in more than two decades in guiding Saint Mary's to a 10-0 win over Aurora on March 17—tossed three more innings of hitless ball against Viterbo on Wednesday. Brown has not allowed a hit since giving up a sixth-inning single against Alma on March 3. … Buerkle has been the team's offensive leader, boasting a team-leading .577 batting average. … Buerkle is one of eight Saint Mary's regulars with batting averages above .300—Drohner (.382), Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis. / .371), Kinne (.354), Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill. / .349), Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn. / .333), Weinberg (.314), and Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis. / .310) are the others. … Buerkle also leads or shares the team lead in runs (21), hits (30), doubles (6), home runs (4), total bases (50), slugging percentage (.962), walks (9), and on-base percentage (.651). … Buerkle had his season-opening 11-game hitting streak snapped against Wheaton last Saturday, but the senior picked up a hit in each of his last two games, while also reaching base safely in all 14 games this season. … Buerkle has collected at least one hit in 122 of the 132 games he's played in, while reaching base safely in 129 of those 132 games. … With his second hit against Rockford on March 3—a third-inning double—Buerkle became just the second player in program history with 200 hits. With his 30 hits through 14 games, Buerkle owns 210 career hits, just 10 shy of the school record, held by Willie Doll. … Saint Mary's has belted nine home runs this season, with Buerkle and Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) accounting for eight of them. … Matthews launched his first collegiate home run—a two-run, seventh-inning shot—against Aurora on March 17. … Seegers leads the team in at-bats (58) and shares the team lead in doubles (6) with Buerkle, while Matthews is the team's leader in triples (2) and RBIs (15). … Matthews is one of five Cardinals with 10 or more RBIs—Buerkle (13), Slowiak (12), Kinne (11), and Barry (10) are the others. … Matthews is the team-leader with two triples. … Saint Mary's is 30-for-35 in stolen base attempts, led by Seegers with eight and Buerkle with seven. … Buerkle leads the team with 10 multiple-hit games—including a season-high four-hit effort in Game 2 against MSOE on Feb. 26. … Buerkle and Matthews boast a team-leading four multiple-RBI games, one more than Barry, Kinne, and Slowiak. … Matthews and Slowiak each own a single-season and career-high five-RBI game—Matthews driving in five in his first collegiate game against MSOE on Feb. 26, while Slowiak equaled that feat in Game 2 against MSOE on Feb. 26. … Brown has logged a team-high 19.1 innings on the mound, while Eli Morison (Minneapolis, Minn.) is close behind with 18.1. … Austin Jacobs (Cannon Falls, Minn. / 16.0 IP), Jesse Barron (Minnetonka, Minn. / 13.2 IP), and Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn. / 11.1 IP) have also thrown more than 10 innings this season. … Josh Hottinger (Oconomowoc, Wis.) leads the staff with a 3-0 record, while Barron's 1.98 ERA is stops among Cardinal regulars. … Brown and Jacob Taschetta (Winfield, Ill.) each earned their first collegiate pitching wins during the Cardinals' spring trip—Taschetta struck out four in 2.1 innings of relief in Saint Mary's win over Finlandia on March 1, while Brown went the first four innings, striking out a career-high eight, in beating MSOE on Feb. 26. … Jacobs and Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn.) have each made a team-leading five pitching appearances, with both—along with Chris Bartosz (Woodridge, Ill.)—accounting for the Cardinals' three saves. … Brown leads the staff with 18 strikeouts—including a career-high eight against Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 26. … The Cardinals have scored 10 or more runs five times this season, including a season-high 19 in a 19-4 win over Finlandia on March 1. … Saint Mary's is 8-1 when leading after the sixth inning. … The Cardinals are 7-3 when scoring first, and 8-2 when scoring in the first inning. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 22-5 in the first inning and 23-8 in the sixth. … Saint Mary's has surrendered just one second-inning run this season. … Saint Mary's made its fourth conference tournament appearance in the last five years under coach Nick Winecke in 2016, falling to Saint John's 11-4 in the MIAC Playoff title game. … The Cardinals finished with a 27-15-1 overall record—marking the third time under coach Nick Winecke that they have won 20 or more games in a season. … Saint Mary's 27 wins are the most since 1992, when the Cardinals finished 28-7.
 
Scouting The St. Scholastica Saints:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• After opening the season with just one win in their first five games, the Saints closed out their spring trip going 4-1—including back-to-back shutout wins over McDaniel (7-0, 6-0), a split against 21^st-ranked Rowan (L, 7-4; W, 6-3), and a 3-0 win over Webster. … The Saints head into their nonconference doubleheader against Saint Mary's boasting five players who are hitting .300 or better—led by Trevor Bernsdorf (.371), Drew Colvard (.357), and Steven Neutzling (.351). … Bernsdorf and Neutzling share the team lead with 13 hits—two more than Tyler Duex (.306) and three in front of Colvard—while Bernsdorf also leads the team in doubles (3), and Neutzling is the team-leader in RBIs (11), total bases (24), and slugging percentage (.649). … Neutzling and Duex have each hit a team-high three home runs, one more than Colvard and Brian Minks (.263). … Colvard has accounted for five of the team's seven stolen bases, going a perfect 5-for-5. … Neutzling is the team-leader with four multiple-hit games, while also leading the team with three multiple-RBI contests. … Joey Zwak has reached base safely in each of the Saints' last nine games. … Martin Alcoverde, Grant Rindal, and Dan Hansen were the workhorses of the Saints' pitching staff during their spring trip, tossing 15.0, 13.0, and 10.0 innings, respectively. … Alcoverde tossed a complete-game, nine-inning, one-hit shut out in St. Scholastica's trip-ending 3-0 win over Webster. … Alcoverde fanned 12 Gorlock batters to push his team-leading total to 25 through two appearances. … Alcoverde and Rindal both own ERA's below 1.00—Alcoverde at 0.60 and Rindal at 0.69—and have each tossed a complete game this season. … Ben Christofferson (1-0, 1.17 ERA) and Isaac Rocha (0-0, 9.00 ERA) have each made a team-high three pitching appearances. … Alcoverde, Rindale, Christofferson, Hansen (1-1, 5.40 ERA), and Jacob Dzubay (1-1, 5.79 ERA) own the Saints' five pitching wins. … Joe Gonrowski (0-0, 0.00 ERA) boasts the staff's lone save. … St. Scholastica has scored six or more runs in four of its five wins—including a season-high 20 runs in a 20-2, Game 2 win over Spalding on March 10. … The Saints are unbeaten (5-0) when limiting their opponents to five runs or less, while going 0-5 when their opponent plates six or more runs. … CSS has not won a game (0-4) in which its opponent scores the game's first run. … St. Scholastica is 4-0 when leading after the sixth inning, and 0-5 when trailing heading into the seventh.