NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday, as the Cardinals travel to Carleton for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader against the Knights.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-8 MIAC, 14-17 Overall) at Carleton Knights (2-10 MIAC, 9-19 Overall), 2:30 p.m.
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 22, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: For the third time in as many doubleheaders this week, Game 1 for Saint Mary's went down to the final at-bat. And, fortunately for coach Nick Winecke, this time around, the end result was a favorable one. The Cardinals, who suffered a 2-1 walk-off loss in the opener of their twinbill against Augsburg Thursday—not to mention a 7-6 walk-off setback in the nightcap vs. the Auggies—found themselves on the receiving end of a walk-off win against Macalester. Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) delivered a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the seventh, scoring Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.), and giving the Cardinals a 4-3, come-from-behind win over the Scots at Max Molock Field. There would be no fourth straight walk-off, however, as Macalester erupted for seven runs in the fourth inning and the Cardinals never recovered in falling to the Scots 13-2 | Recap
• Carleton—April 22, 2017 * Northfield, Minn.: The Knights came up empty against league-leading St. Thomas at Mel Taube Field, falling 2-1 in eight innings in the opener, before dropping a 17-1 decision in the nightcap | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Carleton—A Year Ago:
• April 26, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) tossed a complete-game, five-hit shutout—striking out a season-high eight batters—in leading the Cardinals to a 2-0 victory in the opening game of the teams' conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field. Offense took center stage in the nightcap, however, as the two teams combined for 22 runs and 29 hits—not to mention a five-run inning and a six-run inning—in the nine-inning affair. And, fortunately for coach Nick Winecke, the Cardinals' offense—led by Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.), Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.), and Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.)—was a shade better, as Saint Mary's outslugged the Knights 13-9 to complete the sweep | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return home on Saturday, entertaining Concordia in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
• Carleton: The Knights head to Parade Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., on Sunday for a 1 p.m. MIAC twinbill against Augsburg.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Including their 4-3 Game 1 win over Macalester last Saturday, four of Saint Mary's last six games have been decided in the home team's last at-bat. The Cardinals beat St. Olaf 7-6 on a Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) single in the bottom of the 10^th inning on April 17, before losing back-to-back walk-off games vs. Augsburg (2-1, 7-6) on April 20, and beating Macalester on a Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) hit in the bottom of the seventh against Macalester last Saturday. … The Cardinals have played 10 games decided by one run, going 4-6. … The Cardinals' 7-6 Game 1 win over St. Olaf on April 17 snapped their season-high four-game losing streak. … The Cardinals' 7-6, 9-6 sweep of St. Olaf on April 17 was their first DH sweep since opening the season with 15-3, 10-3 wins over Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 26. … Kinne had two hits in both games against Macalester last Saturday, while Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn.) also posted a pair of hits in Game 1 vs. the Scots. … All nine Cardinal starters had at least one hit in Saint Mary's 7-6 Game 1 win over St. Olaf on April 17. … Kinne delivered six RBIs against St. Olaf on April 7—launching a two-run 10^th-inning home run in the opener, before adding a pair of two-run doubles in the nightcap. … Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) launched his team-leading ninth home run in the Cardinals' Game 2 loss to Macalester last Saturday. … Barry's nine home runs are one more than Ben Buerkle, as the two have accounted for 16 of the team's 18 round-trippers this season. Kinne and Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.) have hit the other two. … 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 229—enters the Cardinals' doubleheader against Carleton hitting a team-best .461. … 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 seven Saint Mary's regulars with batting averages above .300—Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn. / .387), Bartosz (.351), Kinne (.349), Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis. / .341), Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis. / .310), and Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill. / .304) are the others. … Buerkle also leads or shares the team lead in runs (33), hits (49), doubles (11), total bases (83), slugging percentage (.769), walks (22)—nine in his last six games—and on-base percentage (.549). … 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 27 of the team's 31 games, has collected at least one hit in 136 of the 149 games he's played in, while reaching base safely in 144 of those 149 games. … Kinne owns the team in RBIs (26), one more than Buerkle, and shares the team lead in doubles (11). … Matthews is the team's leader in triples (2). … Saint Mary's is 48-for-61 in stolen base attempts, led by Buerkle (15), Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis. / 10), and Kinne (9). … 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. … Brown tossed his second complete game of the season on April 20 against Augsburg, allowing two runs on six hits in the 2-1 loss. … Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn. / 0-1, 4.93 ERA) has logged a team-high 38.1 innings this season, one more inning than Brown (2-3, 3.62 ERA). Jesse Barron (Minneapolis, Minn. / 2-3, 6.11 ERA, 35.1 IP) and Eli Morrison (Minneapolis, Minn. / 2-4, 4.76 ERA, 34.0 IP) have also tossed more than 30 innings this season. … Josh Hottinger (Oconomowoc, Wis. / 5-0, 5.40 ERA) picked up his team-leading fifth win of the season against Macalester last Saturday. … Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn. / 1-2, 6.57 ERA) and Austin Jacobs (Cannon Falls, Minn. / 1-3, 5.52 ERA) have made a team-leading 12 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 33 strikeouts—including a career-high eight against Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 26. … Brown and Jacob Taschetta (Winfield, Ill. / 1-0, 0.00) 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. … Saint Mary's has scored 183 runs—and have plated at least one run in all 31 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. … The Cardinals have recorded 10 or more hits 15 times in their 29 games this season. … Saint Mary's amassed a season-high 19 hits against Finlandia on March 1. … Saint Mary's is 11-5 when leading after the sixth inning. … The Cardinals are 9-8 when scoring first, and 11-5 when scoring in the first inning. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 36-17 in the first inning and 37-20 in the sixth. … Saint Mary's 7-6, 10-inning win over St. Olaf on April 17 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.
 
Scouting The Carleton Knights:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Tuesday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's is the second straight home twinbill for the Knights, who play four of their final six DHs at Mel Taube Field in Northfield, Minn. … With their two losses to St. Thomas last Saturday, the Knights have now dropped three straight and six of their last seven. … Last Saturday's 2-1, eight-inning loss to St. Thomas marked the fourth time in the last five doubleheaders that Game 1 has been decided by one run. … Three of Carleton's last four games have been one-run decisions. … Last Saturday's 2-1, eight-inning loss to ST. Thomas was the Knights' fifth extra-inning game this season—Carleton is 2-3 in those five contests. … Wilson Battle heads into the Knights' conference doubleheader against Saint Mary's leading the team with a .345 batting average. He is one of three Carleton regulars hitting above .300—Josh Small (.309) and Ben Frerichs (.302) are the others. … Battle also leads or shares the team lead in hits (29), doubles (6), home runs (1), total bases (38), slugging percentage (.452), walks (12), and on-base percentage (.353). … Small leads the team in at-bats (94) and shares the top spot in hits with 29. … Frerichs owns a team-high 12 RBIs. … Battle and Austin Heuer have accounted for the Knights' two home runs this season. … Carleton is 6-for-14 in stolen base attempts, with Small leading the way with four steals in four attempts. … Heuer (3-3 3.65 ERA) has thrown a team-high 37.0 innings, followed by Sean Kelly (1-1, 6.83 ERA / 29.0 IP), Alec Lawler (1-1, 2.05 ERA, 22.0 IP), and Tyler Roland (1-1, 4.71 ERA, 21.0 IP). … Luke Curtis (1-3, 6.75 ERA) has made a team-high 10 pitching appearances—nine in relief—while Heuer has posted a team-high seven starts. … Heuer has accounted for two of the team's three complete-game pitching performances, while also leading the staff with 22 strikeouts. … Carleton has held its opponents to two runs or less in six of its nine wins this season. … The Knights are 7-3 when leading after the sixth inning, but they are winless (0-15) when trailing heading into the seventh. … Carleton has scored 10 or more runs just once this season—beating Northwestern 13-7 on April 8. On the flip side, the Knights have surrendered 10 or more runs five times, including a season-high 17 in last Saturday's 17-1, Game 2 loss to St. Thomas.