LA CROSSE, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team is back in action on Wednesday, as the Cardinals head to UW-La Crosse for a 1 p.m. nonconference doubleheader against the Eagles.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (9-6 Overall) at UW-La Crosse Eagles (8-3 Overall), 1 p.m.
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—March 28, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals outhit St. Scholastica 13-11 in the team's nine-inning nonconference game, but the Saints took advantage of six walks and five errors to hand Saint Mary's a 10-4 setback at Max Molock Field | Recap
• UW-La Crosse—March 25-26, 2017 * Mount Vernon, Iowa: The Eagles picked up two wins against Cornell over the weekend, opening with a 3-1 victory on Saturday, before posting a 10-2 win over the Rams the following day | Cornell Recap 1 * Cornell Recap 2
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-La Crosse—Their Last Meeting:
• March 29, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Big innings ruled the day at Max Molock Field. Unfortunately for Saint Mary's, it was visiting UW-La Crosse that was ruling the roost. The Eagles scored three or more runs three times—twice in the opening game of their nonconference doubleheader against the Cardinals, and once more in the second—as UW-La Crosse dealt Saint Mary's 9-2 and 8-1 losses | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to the diamond on Sunday, entertaining UW-Oshkosh in a 1 p.m. nonconference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
• UW-La Crosse: The Eagles are back in action on Sunday, traveling to Duluth, Minn., for a 1 p.m. nonconference doubleheader against St. Scholastica.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• With their 13 hits against St. Scholastica Tuesday, the Cardinals have now collected 28 hits in their last two games. … The Cardinals' 15 hits against Viterbo last Wednesday were just four shy of its season-high 19-hit onslaught against Finlandia on March 1. … Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.), Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.), Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.), and Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.) all had two hits for the Cardinals against St. Scholastica Tuesday. … Eight of the Cardinals' nine starters against Viterbo last Wednesday, and seven of Saint Mary's starting nine against St. Scholastica, had at least one hit. … Buerkle heads into Wednesday's DH against UW-La Crosse hitting a team-best .561. He is one of seven Saint Mary's regulars with batting averages above .300—Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis. / .378), Matthews (.370), Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis. / .351), Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn. / .327), and Seegers (.323) are the others. … Buerkle also leads or shares the team lead in runs (21), hits (32), doubles (7), home runs (4), total bases (53), slugging percentage (.930), walks (9), and on-base percentage (.632). … Buerkle had his season-opening 11-game hitting streak snapped against Wheaton on March 18, but the senior picked up a hit in each of his last three games, while also reaching base safely in all 15 games this season. … Buerkle has collected at least one hit in 123 of the 133 games he's played in, while reaching base safely in 130 of those 133 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 32 hits through 15 games, Buerkle owns 212 career hits, just eight shy of the school record, held by Willie Doll. … Saint Mary's has belted nine home runs this season, with Buerkle and Barry 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 (62) and shares the team lead in doubles (7) 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 (14), Slowiak (12), Kinne (11), and Barry (10) are the others. … 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 11 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. … 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 last Wednesday. Brown has not allowed a hit since giving up a sixth-inning single against Alma on March 3. … Brown has logged a team-high 19.1 innings on the mound, while Eli Morison (Minneapolis, Minn.) is close behind with 18.1. … Jesse Barron (Minnetonka, Minn. / 17.2 IP), Austin Jacobs (Cannon Falls, Minn. / 16.0 IP), and Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn. / 14.1 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. … Wolfe (12) and Morison (11) are second and third on the staff in strikeouts. … 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 7-4 when scoring first, and 8-3 when scoring in the first inning. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 24-5 in the first inning and 23-8 in the sixth. … Saint Mary's has surrendered just two 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 UW-La Crosse Eagles:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Fueled by their two wins over Cornell over the weekend, the Eagles pushed their winning streak to a season-high five games. … Two of UW-La Crosse's three losses this season have been by one run—1-0 against Saint John's and 5-4 vs. William Patterson. … The Eagles have scored 10 runs in two of their last three wins—beating Benedictine (Ill.) 10-5 on March 18 and Cornell 10-2 last Saturday. … Nate Roethle—one of three Eagles to have started all 11 games this season—owns a team-leading .419 batting average. He is one of four UW-L players hitting above .300—Brady Stolzman (.333), Brennnan Schmitt (.323), and Alex Robson (.314) are the others. … Roethle also leads the team in at-bats (43), runs (9), hits (18), total bases (20), and on-base percentage (.447). … Stolzman is the team-leader in doubles (5), RBIs (8), and slugging percentage (.500). … UW-L has banged out 14 extra-base hits—12 doubles and two triples—and are still looking for their first home run of the season. … Roethle has posted a team-leading five multiple-hit games this season, while five players have recorded two multiple-RBI games. … Roethle heads into Wednesday's DH against Saint Mary's riding a seven-game hitting streak. … The UW-La Crosse pitching staff boasts to hurlers—Caleb Boushley (31.0 IP) and Jameson Lavery (25.2 IP)—who have logged 10 or more innings this season. … Boushley (3-1, 0.58 ERA) and Lavery (3-0, 3.51 ERA) have both made a team-high four starts, while Caleb Willems (0-1, 2.08 ERA) owns a team-high five appearances. … Willems has collected a team-high three saves in his first pitching appearances. … Boushley has thrown the Eagles' two complete games—including a six-hit, nine-strikeout gem against Cornell last Saturday. … Boushley leads all UW-L pitchers with 27 strikeouts, with Lavery adding 16. … UW-La Crosse has been held to two runs or less in two of its three losses, while scoring six or more runs in five of their eight victories—including a season-high 10 runs twice. … UW-L has not allowed a team to score more than five runs in any of their 11 games this season. … The Eagles are 5-0 when scoring first, and 3-0 when scoring in the first inning. … UW-La Crosse is 8-1 when leading after the seventh inning, and 8-0 when heading into the ninth inning with the lead. … Wednesday's DH against Saint Mary's is the home opener for the Eagles, who are 2-0 on the road, and 6-3 in neutral-site contests.