WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, as the Cardinals entertain Hamline in a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader at Max Molock Field.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-9 MIAC, 17-18 Overall) vs. Hamline Pipers (5-11 MIAC, 12-22 Overall), 2:30 p.m.
 
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Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 29, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) tossed the first 6 1/3 innings, allowing five runs—only three earned—on nine hits to secure collegiate win No. 1, and lead the Cardinals to a 6-5 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over Concordia in Game 1 of the teams' doubleheader at Max Molock Field. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Game 2 did not follow the same script, as the Cobbers scored 14 runs on 13 hits off six different Saint Mary's pitchers, as Concordia earned the conference split with a 14-2, seven-inning win | Recap
• Hamline—April 29, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Pipers scored three runs in both of their games against St. Thomas, falling to the Tommies 4-3 in eight innings in the opener, before dropping a 9-3 decision in the nightcap | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Hamline—A Year Ago:
• April 12, 2016 * St. Paul, Minn.: Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) went 3-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs, and Ryan Fejt (Westchester, Ill.) and Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn.) put together four innings of stellar relief, as the Cardinals held off the Pipers 5-4 in the opener at CHS Field. Cale Pieczynski (Plover, Wis.) recorded a career-high five-hit afternoon and Kinne drove in three more runs in the nightcap. Unfortunately, it was not enough, as Hamline scored an unearned run in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the Pipers to a 7-6 win the nightcap | Recap
• May 13, 2016 * Collegeville, Minn.: The Cardinals erupted for 10 runs on eight hits—with the first 10 batters in the inning all coming around to score—as Saint Mary's cruised to a 19-2 win in an elimination game of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoff at Saint John's Becker Park | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals close out their regular-season schedule on Sunday, traveling to Arden Hills, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader against the Royals.
• Hamline: The Pipers return home to CHS Field for their final four regular-season games this weekend, hosting Carleton in a 1 p.m. MIAC doubleheader on Saturday, before entertaining Bethany Lutheran in a 1 p.m. nonconference twinbill the following day.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• The Cardinals' 14-2 loss to Concordia in the nightcap of the teams' MIAC doubleheader last Saturday snapped their three-game winning streak. … Saint Mary's heads into its twinbill against Hamline having won four of its last six. … The Cardinals' 4-0, 4-2 sweep of Carleton last 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. … 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 last Friday. 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. … Brown is the first pitcher in NCAA Division III to record two no-hitters in a season since Ferrum's Jake Perkins posted a pair of no-hitters during the 2014 season. Brown is also the first MIAC pitcher with two no-hitters in a season since 1977, when Saint John's Rick Laba achieved the feat in 1977—no-hitting Gustavus (2-0) and Augsburg (2-0). … Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) and Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) each had two hits in Saint Mary's 6-5 Game 1 win over Concordia last Saturday. The duo also drove in five of the team's six runs—with Barry collecting three RBIs, while Kinne had two. … Barry launched his team- and conference-leading 11^th home run in the Cardinals' Game 1 win over Concordia last Saturday. It was the second straight game with a two-run home run for the Cardinal junior. … Barry's 11 home runs—which put him tied for second all-time in program history, three shy of single-season record-holder Todd Borndale's 14 round-trippers—are two more than Ben Buerkle, as the two have accounted for 18 of the team's 20 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 230—enters the Cardinals' doubleheader against Hamline hitting a team- and MIAC-best .420. … 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. / .394), Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis. / .349), Chris Bartosz (Woodridge, Ill. / .338), Kinne (.336), and Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis. / .303) are the others. … Buerkle also leads or shares the team lead in runs (35), hits (50), doubles (11), total bases (84), slugging percentage (.706), walks (26)—13 in his last 10 games—and on-base percentage (.530). … 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 28 of the team's 35 games, has collected at least one hit in 137 of the 153 games he's played in, while reaching base safely in 148 of those 153 games. … Kinne owns the team in RBIs (28), two more than Buerkle, and shares the team lead in doubles (11) with Buerkle and Slowiak. … Matthews is the team's leader in triples (2). … Saint Mary's is 50-for-64 in stolen base attempts, led by Buerkle (15), Seegers (11), and Kinne (10). … Buerkle and Kinne lead the team with 15 multiple-hit games, while Kinne and Barry are the team-leaders with eight 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. … Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) became the third Cardinal pitcher to pick up his first collegiate win this season, going 6.1 innings and allowing five runs on nine hits in last Saturday's 6-5 win over Concordia. … 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. … Wolfe (1-1, 4.84 ERA), who has thrown five or more innings in each of his last five starts, leads the team with 44.2 innings pitched. … Brown (3-3, 3.05 ERA, 44.1 IP), Eli Morrison (Minneapolis, Minn. / 2-4, 4.62 ERA, 39.0 IP), Jesse Barron (Minneapolis, Minn. / 2-4, 6.81 ERA, 38.1 IP), and Austin Jacobs (Cannon Falls, Minn. / 1-3, 6.25 ERA, 31.2 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 on April 22. … Nathan Mathwig (Woodbury, Minn. / 1-2, 6.39 ERA) and Jacobs have made a team-leading 13 pitching appearances. … Ezekiel Chamblee (Zumbrota, Minn.) threw two innings of no-run, two-hit ball against Carleton last Friday to earn his first collegiate save, and equaled that performance in Game 1 against Concordia day later for save No. 2 … Chamblee and Mathwig share the team lead with two saves each, while Jacobs and Bartosz (0-1, 2.45 ERA) own the team's other two saves. … Brown leads the staff with 36 strikeouts—including a career-high eight against Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 26. … The Cardinals have played four games that have been decided in the home team's last at-bat. The Cardinals beat St. Olaf 7-6 on a Weinberg 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 Kinne hit in the bottom of the seventh against Macalester on April 22. … All nine Cardinal starters had at least one hit in Saint Mary's 7-6 Game 1 win over St. Olaf on April 17. … Saint Mary's has scored 199 runs—and have plated at least one run in all 35 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 35 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 40-25 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 Hamline Pipers:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• The Pipers' doubleheader at Saint Mary's marks the final road games of the season for the Pipers, who are 8-16 away from CHS Field this season—including 5-9 in neutral-site games. … Hamline's 4-3, 9-3 losses to St. Thomas last Saturday pushed the Pipers' losing streak to three straight. HU is 2-8 in its last 10 contests. … Hamline's 4-3 Game 1 loss to St. Thomas last Saturday was the Pipers' fourth extra-inning game of the season—HU is just 1-3 in those four contests. … Domenic Dandrea had four hits and drove in a run to pace the Piper offense against St. Thomas last Saturday. … Jacob Picht enters the Pipers' conference doubleheader against Saint Mary's hitting a team-best .344. Picht is one of three HU regulars hitting above .300—Nick Kukurich (.329) and Collin Olstad (.308) are the other two. … Picht also leads or shares the team lead in at-bats (122), runs (330, hits (42), doubles (13), home runs (5), RBIs (22), total bases (70), slugging percentage (.574), and on-base percentage (.441). … Hamline boasts three players—Picht (42), Olstad (37), and Joe Setrum (33)—with 30 or more hits. … Picht (22), Olstad (20), and Setrum (20) lead the team in RBIs. … Olstad and Setrum have accounted for the Pipers' two triples this season. … Olstad has collected a team-high 15 walks, one more than Setrum. … Picht boasts a team-best 14 multiple-hit games, two more than Olstad, while Setrum and Olstad are the team leaders with six multiple-RBI performances. … As a team, the Pipers are 43-for-48 in stolen base attempts, led by Devin Rodgers with 15 steals on 16 tries. … Alex Bauermeister (1-5, 6.64 ERA) has logged a team-high 39.1 innings on the mound, while Zach Smith (2-2, 3.89 ERA, 34.2 IP), Nate Rubbelke (0-1, 6.46 ERA, 30.2 IP), and Sam Petrick (4-1, 3.26 ERA, 30.1 IP) have also thrown 30 or more innings. … Petrick leads the team in wins (4) and appearances (16). … Bauermeister has made a team-high nine starts. … Zach Munsterman (2-0, 3.80 ERA) and Rubbelke have each recorded a team-best two saves. … Bauermeister has struck out a team-high 48 batters, with Petrick second with 32. … The Pipers have scored 171 runs this season—including at least one run in 31 of their 33 games. … Hamline has scored 10 or more runs three times this season, including a season-high 14-run outburst in a 14-0 win over Buena Vista on March 6.