MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Thursday, as the Cardinals travel to Parade Stadium for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader against Augsburg.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-5 MIAC, 13-14 Overall) at Augsburg Auggies (1-9 MIAC, 13-17 Overall), 2:30 p.m.
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 17, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Talk about coming through in the clutch. Saint Mary's scored seven runs in the first game of its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against St. Olaf—four of which came with two outs. After battling the Oles to a 3-3 deadlock through nine innings, St. Olaf scored three runs in the top of the 10^th, only to have the Cardinals answer with four runs in the bottom half of the inning—highlighted by Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) two-out, walk-off RBI single that  lifted the Cardinals to a 7-6, 10-inning victory over the Oles at Max Molock Field. And it was more of the same in the nightcap, as the Cardinals erupted for seven runs in first two innings—all with two outs—including a pair of two-run doubles by Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) in cruising to a 9-6 sweep-clinching victory | Recap
• Augsburg—April 15, 2017 * Moorhead, Minn.: The Auggies outhit Concordia 24-21 in the teams' conference doubleheader at Bucky Burgau Field, but the Cobbers used a pair of walk-off hits—a seventh-inning grand slam in Game 1, and an RBI single in Game 2—in sweeping Augsburg 8-4 and 6-5 in 10 innings | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg—A Year Ago:
• April 21, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's and Augsburg certainly had a flair for the dramatic. In their final at-bats in the ninth and seventh innings of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader, the two teams combined for 11 runs—with all 11 coming via the home run. Augsburg's Mike Brookshaw launched a grand slam in the top of the ninth inning in the opener—and the Auggies survived a Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Wis.) three-run home run in the Cardinals' half of the ninth—to hand Saint Mary's a 6-5 setback. In the nightcap, Augsburg's Tyler Buescher lifted a game-tying, two-run home run in the top of the seventh, only to have Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.)­—who proved to be Augsburg pitcher's worst nightmare all afternoon—answered with a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh to give the Cardinals a 7-5 win, and a conference split | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return home to Max Molock Field on Saturday, hosting Macalester in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader.
• Augsburg: The Auggies are back on the diamond on Saturday, heading to Collegeville, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC twinbill against Saint John's.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Monday's 7-6 Game 1 win over St. Olaf snapped the Cardinals' season-high four-game losing streak. … Saint Mary's scored as many runs against St. Olaf Monday (16) as the Cardinals had in their previous four games combined (16). … The Cardinals' 7-6, 9-6 sweep of St. Olaf was their first DH sweep since opening the season with 15-3, 10-3 wins over Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 26. … With their 14 hits in the opener against St. Olaf Monday, the Cardinals have recorded 10 or more hits 15 times in their 27 games this season. … Saint Mary's amassed a season-high 19 hits against Finlandia on March 1. … All nine Cardinal starters had at least one hit in Saint Mary's 7-6 Game 1 win over St. Olaf Monday—led by Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) and Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) with three each. … Weinberg, Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.), and Chris Bartosz (Woodridge, Ill.) all finished with two hits to account for six of Saint Mary's seven hits in Game 2 vs. the Oles. … Kinne delivered six RBIs against St. Olaf Monday—launching a two-run 10^th-inning home run in the opener, before adding a pair of two-run doubles in the nightcap. … Kinne became just the fourth Cardinal to hit a home run this season. Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) leads the team with seven, while Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) has hit six, and Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.) one. … Matthews launched his first collegiate home run—a two-run, seventh-inning shot—against Aurora on March 17. … Buerkle—the program's all-time hits leader with 224—enters the Cardinals' doubleheader against Augsburg hitting a team-best .464. … Buerkle is one of just two Cardinals in program history with 200 or more career hits—Willie Doll is the other (220). … Buerkle is one of eight Saint Mary's regulars with batting averages above .300— Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn. / .357), Bartosz (.348), Slowiak (.347), Matthews (.344), Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis. / .341), Kinne (.316), and Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis. / .306) are the others. … Buerkle also leads or shares the team lead in runs (30), hits (45), total bases (75), slugging percentage (.773), walks (17)—including four against St. Olaf Monday—and on-base percentage (.547). … Buerkle, who had his season-opening 10-game hitting streak snapped against Wheaton on March 18, has been held off the base paths just twice this season—failing to reach base in Game 1 against UW-Oshkosh on April 2 and in Game 2 vs. St. Thomas on April 13. … Buerkle, who owns at least one hit in 23 of the team's 27 games, has collected at least one hit in 132 of the 145 games he's played in, while reaching base safely in 140 of those 145 games. … Buerkle, Kinne, and Slowiak all share the team lead in doubles with 10, two more than Matthews. … Mathews is the team's leader in triples (2). … Kinne leads the team with 25 RBIs, one more than Buerkle. … Saint Mary's is 43-for-55 in stolen base attempts, led by Buerkle (12), Seegers (9), and Kinne (8). … Buerkle leads the team with 15 multiple-hit games—including a season-high four-hit effort in Game 2 against MSOE on Feb. 26. … Buerkle and Kinne share the team lead with seven multiple-RBI games. … 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 seven more innings of no-hit ball in his next two appearances—three in a no-decision against Viterbo on March 22, and four in another no-decision against UW-La Crosse on March 29. The Eagles finally collected their first hit with a leadoff single to open the fifth, snapping Brown's streak of 14 hitless innings. … Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn. / 0-1, 5.01 ERA) and Jesse Barron (Minnetonka, Minn. / 2-2, 4.73 ERA) share the team lead with 32.1 innings pitched. … Eli Morison (Minneapolis, Minn. / 2-4, 4.94 ERA, 31.0 IP) and Brown (30.2 IP) have also tossed more than 30 innings this season. … Josh Hottinger (Oconomowoc, Wis. / 4-0, 5.91 ERA) picked up his team-leading fourth win of the season against St. Olaf Monday. … 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. … Austin Jacobs (Cannon Falls, Minn. / 1-3, 5.13 ERA) and Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn. / 1-2, 5.84 ERA) share the team lead with 11 pitching appearances. … Mathwig picked up his team-leading second save in the Cardinals' 4-1 win over UW-Oshkosh on April 2, while Jacobs and Bartosz own the team's other two saves. … Brown leads the staff with 27 strikeouts—including a career-high eight against Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 26. … Saint Mary's has scored 170 runs—and have plated at least one run in all 27 games. … The Cardinals have scored 10 or more runs six times this season, including a season-high 19 in a 19-4 win over Finlandia on March 1. … Saint Mary's is 10-4 when leading after the sixth inning. … The Cardinals are 9-7 when scoring first, and 11-5 when scoring in the first inning. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 36-16 in the first inning and 31-17 in the sixth. … Saint Mary's 7-6, 10-inning win over St. Olaf Monday was its second extra-inning game of the season—the Cardinals also dropped a 13-inning affair—also by a 7-6 count—to Wartburg on Feb. 27. … 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 Augsburg Auggies:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• With their back-to-back heartbreaking losses to Concordia last Saturday, the Auggies saw their losing streak climb to eight straight. Augsburg has not won since beating Hamline 6-4 in Game 2 on April 1. … Augsburg has been outscored 65-19 during its current eight-game slide. … Clayton Bodine went 5-for-8 with three doubles and four runs scored against Concordia last Saturday, while Eric Olheiser and Tyler Buescher each chipped in four hits. … Augsburg is hitting .302 as a team, and boasts five players who are hitting .300 or better—led by Josh Marlowe (.346), Zach Bakko (.344), and Bodine (.330). … Marlow also leads, or shares the team lead, in at-bats (107), hits (37), doubles (9), RBIs (21), and total bases (54). … Marlow is one of nine Augsburg players with 20 or more hits through 30 games. … Eric Olheiser (.371) has belted a team-leading five home runs and shares the team lead in RBIs (21) with Marlowe. … Buescher has scored a team-high 23 runs and also leads the Auggies with 15 walks. … Marlowe boasts a team-high 12 multiple-hit games, two more than Bodine, while also leading the team with seven multiple-RBI games. … Jamie Kaye (3-2, 4.50 ERA) and Lincoln Hochmuth (2-3, 5.11 ERA) have logged a team-high 48.0 and 44.0 innings, respectively. … Kaye and Hochmuth have made a team-high eight starts, while Dayton Danielson (1-2, 3.13 ERA) has appeared in a team-leading 10 games. … Kaye has recorded complete games in four of his eight starts. … Danielson, Spencer Saunders (1-2, 4.35 ERA), and Bodine (0-0, 19.64 ERA) share the team lead with two saves each. … Augsburg boasts four pitchers—Jacob Karl (1-3, 3.55 ERA, 25), Kaye (25), Hochmuth (24), and Jordan Brandt (3-2, 7.53 ERA, 23)—with 20 or more strikeouts. …  The Auggies have outscored their opponents 157-154, including 26-16 in the first inning and 21-14 in the second. … Augsburg in 12-3 when leading after the sixth inning, but the Auggies are winless (0-13) when trailing heading into the seventh. … Augsburg has been held to two runs or less in nine of its 17 losses. … Augsburg has scored 10 or more runs four times this season—including a season-high 17 runs in a 17-3 win over Valley City State on March 13. … The Auggies head into their doubleheader against Saint Mary's still searching for their first home win of the season (0-4).