ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Sunday, as the Cardinals close out their regular-season schedule with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Bethel.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (9-9 MIAC, 19-18 Overall) at Bethel Royals (14-4 MIAC, 29-8 Overall), 1 p.m.
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—May 3, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's got a walk-off single from Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.) in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Cardinals to a 2-1, Game 1 win over Hamline at Max Molock Field. The Cardinals completed the sweep with a 4-2 victory—highlighted by Chris Bartosz's (Woodridge, Ill.) first career home run and Connor Christenson's (Lakeville, Minn.) first collegiate RBI | Recap
• Bethel—May 4, 2017 * Arden Hills, Minn.: Bethel encountered a minor hiccup in its final nonconference game of the season, surrendering four runs in the first four innings—while managing just two hits—in falling  to 25^th-ranked St. Scholastica at Hargis Park | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Hamline—A Year Ago:
• May 8, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Bethel scored a pair of unearned runs in the sixth and seventh innings, handing Saint Mary's a 4-2 Game 1 setback at Max Molock Field—and officially eliminating any chance the Cardinals had of clinching a share of the conference's regular-season title. The Cardinals rebounded quite nicely from the Game 1 loss, however, getting a combined seven hits and seven RBIs from Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) and Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) in crushing the Royals 14-6 in the nightcap | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: Sunday's doubleheader at Bethel is the regular-season finale for the Cardinals.
• Bethel: The Royals are one of three teams who have already locked up a spot in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs, which will be held May 11-13 at Saint John's Becker Park in Collegeville, Minn.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• With their two wins over Hamline Wednesday, the Cardinals enter their regular-season finale against Bethel having won five of their last six games. … The Cardinals have scored four runs in three of the four games in its last two conference sweeps—Saint Mary's beat Carleton 4-0 and 4-2 on April 28, while beating Hamline 4-2 in Game 2 on Wednesday. … Saint Mary's sweep of Hamline Wednesday was its fourth doubleheader sweep of the season. Along with taking two from both Hamline and Carleton, the Cardinals also swept St. Olaf 7-6, 9-6 on April 17 and Milwaukee School of Engineering 15-3, 10-3 on Feb. 26. … Saint Mary's five hits against Hamline in Wednesday's opener came from five different players, while Connor Christenson (Lakeville, Minn.) went 2-for-3 to pace Saint Mary's eight-hit Game 2 attack against the Pipers. … Christenson has now collected two hits in two of his three starts this season—the senior recorded his first two collegiate hits in Saint Mary's Game 2 loss to Concordia on April 29. … R.J. Brown (Broadview, Ill.), who tossed his second no-hitter of the season, allowed just one run on four hits in 7 1/3 innings against Hamline Wednesday. … Brown, who did not get a decision in the 2-1, eight-inning victory, equaled his career high with eight strikeouts against the Pipers. … Brown, who tossed in just 5 2/3 innings over his first two seasons in a Cardinal uniform, has now posted two no-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). … Chris Bartosz (Woodridge, Ill.) delivered his first collegiate home run—a two-run, first-inning shot against Hamline Wednesday. … Bartosz is just the fifth Cardinal to hit a home run this season. Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.) leads the team—and the conference—with 11 home runs, while Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) has added nine, while Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) and Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.) have each hit one. … Matthews launched his first collegiate home run—a two-run, seventh-inning shot—against Aurora on March 17. … Barry's 11 home runs are tied for second all-time in program history, three shy of single-season record-holder Todd Borndale's 14 round-trippers in 1985. … Buerkle—the program's all-time hits leader with 231—enters the Cardinals' doubleheader at Bethel hitting a team- and MIAC-best .411. … 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), Connor Christenson (Lakeville, Minn. / .364), Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis. / .349), and Kinne (.333) are the others. … Buerkle also leads or shares the team lead in runs (36), hits (51), doubles (12), total bases (86), slugging percentage (.694), walks (29)—16 in his last 12 games—and on-base percentage (.529). … 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 29 of the team's 37 games, has collected at least one hit in 138 of the 155 games he's played in, while reaching base safely in 150 of those 155 games. … Kinne owns the team in RBIs (28), two more than Buerkle, and is second in hits (42) and doubles (11). … Matthews is the team's leader in triples (2). … Saint Mary's is 52-for-66 in stolen base attempts, led by Buerkle (16), Seegers (11), and Kinne (11). … Kinne has not been thrown out trying to steal this season, going 11-for-11. … 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. … Ezekiel Chamblee (Zumbrota, Minn.) became the fourth Cardinal pitcher to pick up his first collegiate win last Wednesday, retiring the two batters he faced in the eighth in the Cardinals' 2-1, eight-inning win over Hamline. … Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) notched his first win on April 29, going 6.1 innings and allowing five runs on nine hits in the Cardinals' 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. … Brown (3-3, 2.79 ERA) leads the team with 51.2 innings pitched. Wolfe (1-1, 4.84 ERA), who has thrown five or more innings in each of his last five starts, is second with 44.2 innings, while Eli Morrison (Minneapolis, Minn. / 2-4, 4.33 ERA, 42.0 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. … Chamblee threw two innings of no-run, two-hit ball against Carleton on April 28 to earn his first collegiate save, and equaled that performance in Game 1 against Concordia day later for save No. 2. Chamblee (1-0, 5.59 ERA) locked up his third save in as many tries in Game 2 against Hamline last Wednesday, blanking the Pipers over the final inning of Saint Mary's 4-2 victory. … Brown equaled his career high with eight strikeouts against Hamline last Wednesday. The junior also fanned eight against Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 26, and leads the team with 45 strikeouts. … Saint Mary's has scored 207 runs—and have plated at least one run in all 37 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 amassed a season-high 19 hits against Finlandia on March 1. … Saint Mary's is 14-5 when leading after the sixth inning. … The Cardinals are 11-8 when scoring first, and 13-5 when scoring in the first inning. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 39-19 in the first inning and 40-25 in the sixth. … Saint Mary's 2-1 eight-inning win over Hamline last Wednesday was its third extra-inning game of the season. The Cardinals beat St. Olaf 7-6 in 10 innings on April 17, while falling to Wartburg in 13 innings—also by a 7-6 count—on Feb. 27. … With last Wednesday's 2-1, eight-inning win over Hamline, the Cardinals have now played five games that 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, beating Macalester on a Kinne hit in the bottom of the seventh on April 22, and topping the Pipers 2-1 on Seegers' RBI single in the bottom of the eighth. … All nine Cardinal starters had at least one hit in Saint Mary's 7-6 Game 1 win over St. Olaf on April 17.
 
Scouting The Bethel Royals:
2017 Roster | 2017 Statistics | 2017 Schedule
• Including Sunday's games against Saint Mary's, Bethel has played seven of its last eight dates on its home field. The Royals are 7-1 at Hargis Field, while going 10-3 on the road and 12-3 in neutral-site contests. … Thursday's 4-0 loss to St. Scholastica was the Royals' second straight setback—Bethel dropped a 3-2, Game 2 decision to St. Thomas last Tuesday. It's just the second time this season the Royals have lost back-to-back games—Bethel lost 6-2 and 10-7 to St. Olaf on April 8. … Austin Ledin and John Horner each had one hit to account for Bethel's two hits in the Royals' 4-0 loss to St. Scholastica on Thursday. … The Royals head into Sunday's regular-season finale against Saint Mary's hitting .317 as a team—and boasting eight players who are hitting .300 or better. … Brandon Meyer owns a team-high .361 batting average, while John Horner (.358), Mitch Butvilas (.355), Bryce Marquardt (.349), Ledin (.330), Michael Wesner (.328), Sam Horner (.327), and Lars Anderson (.313) are also hitting above .300. … Neville has amassed a team-best 41 hits, with Marquardt (38), Wesner (38), Esteban Velasco, 35), and Sam Horner (33) also owner 30 of more hits through 37 games. … Neuville, the only Royal to have started all 37 games, leads the team in doubles (12) and RBIs (35), while Marquardt has scored a team-leading 35 runs. … Wesner boasts a .560 slugging percentage and has laced a team-best four triples. … Bethel has nine players who have induced 10 or more walks this season, led by Ledin with 17 and Marquardt with 16. … Ledin and Wesner share the team lead with four home runs, one more than Joey Fredrickson (.286). … The Royals have only been thrown out trying to steal four times—going 37-for-41—with Marquardt leading the way with 16 steals in 17 attempts. … Neuville owns a team-leading 12 multiple-hit  hit games—one more than Marquardt, Sam Horner, and Wesner—while also boasting a team-best 10 multiple-RBI performances. … Michael Willman (5-2, 3.10 ERA) has logged a team-high 61.0 innings on the mound this season, with Michale Bohlke (6-2, 2.93 ERA, 46.0 IP), Noah Luedtke (4-0, 2.40 ERA, 41.1), and Houston Droel (4-1, 3.56 ERA, 30.1 IP) also throwing more than 30 innings. … Willman has made a team-high 11 starts, while Jake Marsh (2-1, 3.51) leads the pitching staff with 20 appearances. … Boehlke is the team-leader in wins (6) and owns both of the team's complete games. … Marsh has collected six of the Royals' nine saves. … Willman is the staff's strikeout leader with 40, followed by Bohlke (38), and Luedtke (34). … Thursday's loss to St. Scholastica marked just the second time this season the Royals have been shut out—Bethel was also blanked by UW-Stout 1-0 on Feb. 27. … The Royals have scored 274 runs through 37 games, including plating 10 or more runs 12 times. Bethel scored a season-high 25 runs in its season-opening, 25-2 win over Northwestern (Minn.) on Feb. 21. … Bethel's 25 runs vs. Northwestern (Minn.) came on 24 hits—including at least one from 20 different players. Among the 24 hits were seven doubles, one triple, and two home runs.