WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, as the Cardinals entertain Concordia in a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-8 MIAC, 15-17 Overall) vs. Concordia Cobbers (10-6 MIAC, 21-13 Overall), 1 p.m.
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats  | GameDay Program | Senior Salute

Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 28, 2017 * Northfield, Minn.: R.J. Brown (Broadview, Ill.) did something no Saint Mary's pitcher on record has done—tossing his second no-hitter of the season—in leading the Cardinals to a 4-0 win over Carleton in the opening game of their MIAC doubleheader at Mel Taube Field. Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run home run in the seventh inning to lift the Cardinals to a 4-2, sweep-clinching win in Game 2 | Recap
• Concordia—April 28, 2017 * St. Peter, Minn.: The Cobbers and Gusties each only managed two hits, but one of the Cobbers' was an RBI double by Chad Johnson in the second to plate the game's only run in a 1-0 Concordia win the opener of their conference doubleheader. The Cobbers kicked their offense into high gear in the nightcap, scoring nine times in completing the sweep with a 9-5 win | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia—A Year Ago:
• February 23, 2016 * Winter Haven, Fla.: It was a good old-fashioned game of one-upmanship when Saint Mary's and Concordia squared off. The Cardinals scored single runs in the first two innings … and the Cobbers answered with single runs in the bottom half of the first two innings. The Cobbers scored four runs in the third … and the Cardinals did them two better with a six-run fifth. Saint Mary's blasts its first home run of the season in the sixth … Concordia belts its first two round-trippers in its next at-bat. The Cardinals finished the nine-inning contest with 16 hits … the Cobbers matched that 16-hit effort. Fortunately for coach Nick Winecke, the Cobbers could not one-up the Cardinals' six-run fifth and four-run sixth, as the Cardinals held on for a 14-11 victory | Recap
• May 4, 2016 * Moorhead, Minn.: Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) limited the Cobbers to just two runs on four hits—all in the first three innings—in helping the Cardinals to a 5-2 victory in Game 1 of the conference twinbill. Saint Mary's took a little different route, with the same end result, in Game 2, scoring six runs in the top of the ninth inning, erasing a 6-4 Concordia advantage and lifting the Cardinals to a 10-6—and, more importantly, into the MIAC Playoffs for the fourth time in the last five years | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return home to Max Molock Field on Tuesday, entertaining Hamline in a 2:30 p.m. conference doubleheader.
• Concordia: The Cobbers step out of conference play on Tuesday, hosting Mayville State in a nine-inning nonconference game. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
 
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 eight 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. … R.J. Brown (Broadview, Ill.) allowed just three base-runners—all via walks—in recording his second no-hitter of the season in the Cardinals' 4-0 Game 1 win over Carleton Friday afternoon. Brown—the first Cardinal pitcher on record to throw two no-hitters in a season—struck out three and walked three, while inducing Carleton hitters into 10 groundball outs and eight fly ball outs. … Brown, who tossed in just 5.2 innings over his first two seasons in a Cardinal uniform, has now posted two not-hitters and three-complete games this season. … Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) collected two of Saint Mary's four Game 1 hits vs. Carleton Friday—and drove in two of the Cardinals' four runs with a two-run, sixth-inning double—while Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.) and Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.) had the other two hits. … Chris Bartosz (Woodridge, Ill.) went 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Cardinal offensive attack in the nightcap against Carleton Friday. … The Cardinals' 7-6 Game 1 win over St. Olaf on April 17 snapped their season-high four-game losing streak. … The Cardinals' 4-0, 4-2 sweep of Carleton Friday was their third doubleheader sweep of the season. Saint Mary's also swept St. Olaf 7-6, 9-6 on April 17 and Milwaukee School of Engineering 15-3, 10-3 on Feb. 26. … All nine Cardinal starters had at least one hit in Saint Mary's 7-6 Game 1 win over St. Olaf on April 17. … Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) 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 and career-high 10th home run in the Cardinals' Game 2 win over Carleton on Friday. … Barry's 10 home runs are two more than Ben Buerkle, as the two have accounted for 17 of the team's 19 round-trippers this season. Kinne and Matthews 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 Concordia hitting a team-best .434. … 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 six Saint Mary's regulars with batting averages above .300—Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn. / .387), Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis. / .357), Bartosz (.355), Kinne (.333), and Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis. / .309) are the others. … Buerkle also leads or shares the team lead in runs (35), hits (49), doubles (11), total bases (83), slugging percentage (.735), walks (25)—12 in his last eight games—and on-base percentage (.539). … 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 33 games, has collected at least one hit in 136 of the 151 games he's played in, while reaching base safely in 146 of those 151 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 49-for-63 in stolen base attempts, led by Buerkle (15), Seegers (10), and Kinne (10). … 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. … With his seven-inning no-hitter, Brown (3-3, 3.05 ERA) moved into the team lead in innings pitched with 44.1, while lowing his team-leading ERA to 3.05. … Eli Morrison (Minneapolis, Minn. / 2-4, 4.62 ERA, 39.0 IP), Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn. / 0-1, 4.93 ERA, 38.1 IP), and Jesse Barron (Minneapolis, Minn. / 2-3, 6.11 ERA, 35.1 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, Bartosz, and Ezekiel Chamblee (Zumbrota, Minn.) own the team's other three saves. … Chamblee recorded his first collegiate save against Carleton Friday, allowing no runs and two hits over the final two innings. … Brown leads the staff with 36 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 13-5 when leading after the sixth inning. … The Cardinals are 11-8 when scoring first, and 12-5 when scoring in the first inning. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 37-18 in the first inning and 40-20 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 Concordia Cobbers:
2017 Roster| 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• With their 1-0, 9-5 sweep of Gustavus Friday, the Cobbers head into Saturday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's having won 11 of their last 13. … Concordia had its season-high seven-game winning streak snapped with a 2-1 loss to Carleton on April 19. … As a team, the Cobbers are hitting .289, and boast five players—Grant Tolvonen (.341), Nate Hoeft (.337), Alec Sames (.328), Joe Hallock (.316), and Turner Storm (.302)—hitting above .300. … Hallock leads the Cobbers in hits (36)—one more than Storm—while also holding the team lead in doubles (10), total bases (52), slugging percentage (.456), and sacrifices (12). … Storm has made a team-high 116 at-bats and has scored a team-best 20 runs, two more than Toivonen, Hoeft, and Nate Leintz (.292). … Concordia has seven players with 10 or more RBIs, led by Leintz (22), Chad Johnson (.243, 19), Hallock (17), Storm (17), and Cody Rahman (.265, 17). … Six Cobbers have drawn 10 or more walks, with Storm leading the way with 15. … Concordia is 31-for-38 in stolen base attempts, led by Chad Johnson with nine. … Rahman, Toivonen, and Storm share the team lead with 10 multiple-hit games, while Leintz has amassed six multiple-RBI games. … Toivonen has reached base safely in 15 consecutive games. … Cole Christensen (4-3, 3.12) and Fletcher Andel (4-3, 5.09 ERA) have been the workhorses for the Cobber pitching staff, tossing 49.0 and 46.0 innings, respectively. … Christensen and Andel have made a team-high eight starts, while Hallock (2-1, 3.00 ERA) leads the team with 12 pitching appearances. … Christensen, Andel, and Austin Ver Steeg (3-3, 3.44 ERA) have all recorded two complete games, while Hallock has accounted for all four of the team's saves. … Christensen has fanned a team-high 30 batters, and is one of six Cobbers with 10 or more strikeouts. … Concordia has limited its opponents to five runs or less in 14 of its 19 wins. On the flip side, the Cobbers have been held to five runs or less in 11 of their 13 losses. … Concordia has scored 10 or more runs five times—all wins—including a season-high 15 runs in a 15-7 win over Rose-Hulman on Feb. 27. … The Cobbers are winless (0-3) when their opponent scores in double digits. … Concordia is 16-0 when leading after the sixth inning, but just 2-13 when trailing heading into the seventh. … Seventeen of Concordia's 34 games have been decided by two runs or less—including 12 one-run games, of which CC is 8-4.