By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team is back in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, as the Cardinals head to Bethel's Hargis Park for a 1 p.m. showdown with the Royals.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-1 MIAC, 13-10 Overall) at Bethel Royals (7-3 MIAC, 20-6 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 25, 2018 * St. Peter, Minn.: The Cardinals picked up a pair of two-run MIAC wins over Macalester at Gustavus' Gustie Field. Saint Mary's rode the complete-game pitching of James Green (East Bethel, Minn.) to a 2-0 win in the opener, before getting a two-run triple from Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) in the top of the seventh to break a 2-2 tie and lead SMU to a 4-2 win in the nightcap | Recap
• Bethel—April 25, 2018 * Arden Hills, Minn.: John Leach hit a three-run walk-off home run in the opener to give Bethel a 4-1 win over Gustavus, before following that up with his second three-run shot of the day to put the Royals ahead to stay in a 7-5 Game 2 victory at Hargis Park | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Bethel—Their Last Meeting:
• May 7, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Bethel erupted for a combined eight runs in their final three at-bats in breaking open a one-run game and leading the Royals to an 11-2 victory in the teams' opening game of their MIAC doubleheader at Max Molock Field, before scoring three times with two outs in the bottom of the ninth—on a pair of bases-loaded hit batsmen and a Cardinal throwing error—to complete the sweep with a 6-5 win in the nightcap | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are right back on the road on Sunday, heading to Moorhead, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader against Concordia.
• Bethel: The Royals return to action on Sunday, heading to Northfield, Minn., for a pair of MIAC games against St. Olaf. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
 
Scouting the Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• With this weekend's doubleheaders against Bethel and Concordia, the Cardinals will have played 25 of their first 27 games this season on the road. Following Sunday's showdown at Concordia, the Cardinals will play three straight home doubleheaders—vs. Saint John's (Tuesday), Augsburg (Wednesday), and Hamline (Saturday). … With their sweep of Macalester Wednesday—their third straight doubleheader sweep—the Cardinals pushed their winning streak to seven straight—and put the Cardinals alone atop the conference standings at 7-1, with Bethel, Saint John's, and St. Thomas are all tied for second at 7-3. … James Green (East Bethel, Minn.) recorded his first collegiate shutout in a Cardinal uniform—scattering five hits and striking out seven—in Wednesday's 2-0 Game 1 win over Macalester. … The Cardinals have now had a pitcher toss a complete game in the first game of each of their last three doubleheaders. Eli Morison (Minneapolis, Minn.) recorded his first collegiate complete game in leading Saint Mary's to a 3-1 win in the opener against Carleton Monday, while Green recorded his first collegiate win with his first collegiate complete game in last Saturday's 3-2 Game 1 win over Gustavus. … Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) had a hit in both games against Macalester Wednesday—and drove in three of the Cardinals' four runs in Game 2, including a two-run triple in the top of the seventh inning that snapped a 2-2 tie. … Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.) went 2-for-2 with two runs scored in Game 2 against Macalester Wednesday and has now had two hits in four of the Cardinals' last six games. … Saint Mary's erupted for 17 hits in the nightcap vs. Carleton Monday—getting hits from 13 different players. … Tepp enters this weekend's doubleheaders against Bethel and Concordia as the team's batting leader with a .449 average. Tepp is one of five Cardinals hitting above .300—Connor Cornell (Plymouth, Minn. / .375), Slowiak (.362),  Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis. / .358), and Justin Weinberg (.304) are the others. … Along with his .358 batting average, Seegers boasts team-highs in at-bats (81), runs (20), hits (29), doubles (5), triples (2), and total bases (38). … Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.)—who recorded a career-high four hits, including his third career triple, in Game 2 against Gustavus last Saturday—drilled his second home run of the season in the Cardinals' 10-3 Game 1 loss to St. Thomas on April 10. … Tepp's three-run, fifth-inning home run against Luther on March 27—the first of his collegiate career—accounts for Saint Mary's other home run this season. … Weinberg leads the team with 16 RBIs and his joined by
Tepp (12), Slowiak (11), Barry (11), and Seegers (10) as the four Cardinals with 10 or more RBIs this season. … Tepp lead the team with eight multiple-hit games, one more than Seegers, and Weinberg owns a team-high four multiple-RBI games. … Seegers had his team- and career-high 13-game hitting streak snapped in Game 1 against Carleton on Monday, and had his 16-game streak of reaching base safely ended in Game 1 against Macalester Wednesday. … Weinberg was held hitless in Game 2 against Mount Union on March 3, snapping his season-opening seven-game hitting streak. … Jordan Albrecht (Tomah, Wis.), Liam Belleveau (Middleton, Wis.), Mitchell Feyereisen (River Falls, Wis.), and Jacob French (Winona, Minn.) all recorded their first collegiate hits in Game 2 vs. the Knights, giving Saint Mary's eight players who have recorded their first hits as a Cardinal this season. Tepp, Cornell, Tommy Hill (Madison, Wis.), and Kodey Kiel (Medford, Minn.) all collected their first hits during the Cardinals' spring trip to Auburndale, Fla. … Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.) and Seegers set career highs in the Cardinals' 8-4 win over Rose-Hulman on March 1. Piechowski banged out a career-high four hits, while Seegers walked four times and scored four ties—both career-bests—against the Fightin' Engineers. … Seegers and Tepp drove in all seven of the Cardinals' Game 1 runs in Saint Mary's 7-4 win over Luther on March 27. … Green (2-1, 1.77 ERA) and Ryan Wolfe (4-2, 4.06 ERA) lead the Cardinal pitching staff in innings pitched with 40.2 and 33.2 innings, respectively, while R.J. Brown (Broadview, Ill. / 20.1 IP, 3-2, 3.10 ERA), Morison (20.2 IP, 1-1, 3.05 ERA) and Jonathan Cieminski (Fountain City, Wis. / 11.2 IP, 0-1, 5.40 ERA) have also hurled 10 or more innings this season. … Green, Wolfe, Tyler Stilp (Lindstrom, Minn. / 0-0, 1.86 ERA), and Kiel (0-0, 1.86 ERA) have made a team-high six pitching appearances—with all six of Stilp's and Kiel's coming in relief. … Dom Lonetti (St. Paul, Minn. / 1-0, 0.00 ERA) and Jake Kramlinger (White Bear Lake, Minn. / 1-2, 3.86 ERA) each picked up their first collegiate pitching wins during the Cardinals' spring trip to Florida, while Stilp and Austin Lenhardt (Winona, Minn.) each notched their first collegiate saves in the Cardinals' sweep of MSOE on Feb. 26. … Five Cardinal hurlers have recorded 10 or more strikeouts—led by Green (34), Wolfe (27), and Brown (23). … Green has thrown seven innings in five of his six starts this season. … Wolfe—who picked up his second straight win, going four innings in the Cardinals' 15-6 victory over Gustavus last Saturday—posted a pair of collegiate firsts in the Cardinals' Game 2 win over St. Thomas on April 10. The sophomore right-hander tossed his first career nine-inning complete game, with the 1-0 final scoring earning him his first shutout as a Cardinal. Wolfe also struck out a career-high eight batters, while allowing just four hits and walking one in the nine-inning win. … Saint Mary's scored six runs on just two hits—plating four runs on bases-loaded walks—in its 10-5 win over Alma on March 17. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 20-6 in the sixth inning, and 16-6 in the third. … Saint Mary's is 11-1 when leading after the sixth inning, but are 2-9 when tied or trailing heading into the seventh. … The Cardinals have scored six or more runs in seven of their 13 wins—including a season-high 16 runs against Penn State-Brandywine on March 4. … The Cardinals' 16 runs and 19 hits were the most since Saint Mary's banged out 19 hits in drubbing Finlandia 19-4 on March 1, 2017. … The Cardinals are 10-3 when scoring first, but just 3-7 when their opponent scores first. … Saint Mary's 2-1 eight-inning loss to Luther on March 27 was the Cardinals' third extra-inning game of the season—SMU beat MSOE 2-0 in 10 innings on Feb. 26, while falling to Mount Union in eight innings on March 3.
 
Scouting The Bethel Royals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Royals, who are playing their second straight home doubleheader Saturday against Saint Mary's, enter their showdown with the Cardinals riding a three-game winning streak. … John Leach led the way for the Royals in their sweep of Gustavus Wednesday, hitting a pair of game-winning three-run home runs—including a walk-off shot in BU's 4-1 Game 1 victory—while also picking up the Game 2 pitching win with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Leach finished the DH vs. the Gusties 5-for-8 from the plate with six RBIs. … Bethel heads into Saturday's DH against Saint Mary's hitting .329 as a team, and boasts seven players who are hitting above .300—led by Sam Horner (.400) and Michael Wesner (.382). Leach (.371), Austin Ledin (.367), Joey Fredrickson (.352), John Horner (.329), and Bo Lovdahl (.311) are also hitting above .300 for the Royals. … Along with his team-best .400 batting average, Horner also leads the Royals in virtually every other offensive category, including at-bats (95), runs (27), hits (38), doubles (8), walks (12), and on-base percentage (.473). … Horner is one of seven Royals with at least 20 hits through 26 games. … Bethel has belted 76 extra-base hits among its 272 hits this season—including 51 doubles, eight triples, and 17 home runs. … Ledin leads the team with seven homers and 26 RBIs. … Horner has amassed 12 multiple-hit games—including a season-high five-hit effort against Augustana on March 16. … Mitch Butvilas has also posted a five-hit game this season, his coming against Lakeland on March 15. … Ledin is the team-leader with eight multiple-RBI performances. … The Royals have eight pitchers who has tossed 10 or more innings this season, led by Michael Bohlke (45.1 IP), Noah Luedtke (33.1 IP), Carson Selin (29.0 IP), and Connor Malcolm (22.2 IP). … Jake Marsh (2-0, 0.51 ERA) has made a team-leading 11 pitching appearances—all in relief—while Bohlke (3-1, 2.18 ERA) is the team-leader with eight starts. … Selin (4-0, 0.93 ERA) leads the BU staff with four wins and Marsh has accounted for a team-high four of the Royals' five saves. … Sam Riola (2-0, 1.93 ERA) has tossed a complete game in both of his starts this season. … The Bethel pitching staff has struck out 168 batters, led by Bohlke (39), Luedtke (35), and Selin (33). … The Royals have scored 10 or more runs four times this season—including a season-high 19-run outburst in beating Alfred State 19-3 on March 13. … Bethel has played one extra-inning game, losing to St. Scholastica 3-2 in 15 innings on March 28. … Four of the Royals' six losses have been decided by one run—including 1-0 losses to Saint John's and Hamline.