By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team is set to play its second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader in as many days on Sunday, as the Cardinals travel to Concordia for a pair of games against the Cobbers. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (8-2 MIAC, 13-10 Overall) at Concordia Cobbers (6-6 MIAC, 13-14 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats: Game 1 * Game 2
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 28, 2018 * Arden Hills, Minn.: The Cardinals settled for a split in their MIAC doubleheader against Bethel, winning the first game 2-1 in 10 innings, before falling in the nightcap | Recap
• Concordia—April 28, 2018 * Moorhead, Minn.: The Cobbers split their MIAC doubleheader against Gustavus, winning the first game 5-2, before falling in the nightcap 3-1.
 
Saint Mary's vs. Concordia—Their Last Meeting:
• 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 in securing collegiate win No. 1, and leading 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
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to action on Tuesday, hosting Saint John's in a 2:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader at Max Molock Field. Saint Mary's will then entertain Augsburg in another 2:30 p.m. conference twinbill the following day.
• Concordia: The Cobbers are back on their home diamond on Tuesday, playing host to Bethel in a pair of MIAC games. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
 
Scouting the Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• With Sunday's doubleheader against 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). … The Cardinals' 10-1 Game 2 loss to Bethel Saturday snapped their eight-game losing streak, while also putting an end to Saint Mary's run of three straight doubleheader sweeps. … At 8-2, the Cardinals head into Sunday's showdown with Concordia leading the MIAC by one game over Saint John's (7-3). … Joe Seegers (Oconomowoc, Wis.) and Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.) each had two hits in the opener against Bethel Saturday, while Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.) drove in the game-winning run in the top of the 10^th inning. The Cardinals' eight hits in Game 2 came from eight different players. … 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. … 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 last Monday, while Green recorded his first collegiate win with his first collegiate complete game in Game 1 3-2 Game 1 win against Gustavus on April 21. … Tepp, who went 2-for-2 with two runs scored in Game 2 against Macalester Wednesday and has now had two hits in five of the Cardinals' last eight games. … Saint Mary's erupted for 17 hits in the nightcap vs. Carleton last Monday—getting hits from 13 different players. … Tepp enters Sunday's doubleheaders against Concordia as the team's batting leader with a .421 average. Tepp is one of four Cardinals hitting above .300—Connor Cornell (Plymouth, Minn. / .368), Seegers (.360), and Zach Slowiak (Chippewa Falls, Wis. / .323). … Along with his .360 batting average, Seegers boasts team-highs in at-bats (89), runs (20), hits (32), doubles (5), triples (2), and total bases (41). … Jake Barry (Tinley Park, Ill.)—who recorded a career-high four hits, including his third career triple, in Game 2 against Gustavus on April 21—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. … Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) leads the team with 16 RBIs and is 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 nine multiple-hit games, two 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 37.2 innings, respectively, while R.J. Brown (Broadview, Ill. / 24.1 IP, 3-3, 4.07 ERA), Morison (27.0 IP, 1-1, 2.67 ERA) and Jonathan Cieminski (Fountain City, Wis. / 11.2 IP, 0-1, 5.40 ERA) have also hurled 10 or more innings this season. … Tyler Stilp (Lindstrom, Minn. / 1-0, 1.54 ERA), and Kiel (0-0, 1.86 ERA) have made a team-high seven pitching appearances—all in relief. … Stilp collected his first collegiate win, throwing two innings of scoreless, hitless relief in Saint Mary's 2-1, 10-inning win over Bethel on Saturday. … 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 (25). … 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 on April 21—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 21-6 in the sixth inning, and 16-7 in the third. … Saint Mary's is 11-1 when leading after the sixth inning, but are 3-10 when tied or trailing heading into the seventh. … The Cardinals have scored six or more runs in seven of their 14 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 4-8 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 Concordia Cobbers:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• Sunday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's is the second of three straight home twinbills for the Cobbers, who are 5-2 at Bucky Burgau Field this season. … The Cobbers enter Sunday's showdown having dropped four of their last six. … Chad Johnson enters Sunday's games against Saint Mary's hitting a team-leading .316. He is the only Cobber hitting above .300 through 27 games. … Johnson also leads the team in hits (31), doubles (9), triples (1), home runs (2), total bases (48), slugging percentage (.490), and on-base percentage (.404). … Johnson is one of five Cobbers with 20 or more hits—Turner Storm (28), Nate Hoeft (29), Nate Leintz (28), and Alec Sames (24) are the others. … Hoeft has scored a team-high 19 runs, leading seven Cobbers who have scored at least 10 times. … Leintz owns a team-high 23 RBIs. … Storm, Johnson and Hoeft have all posted a team-best eight multiple-hit games, with Leintz leading the team with five multiple-RBI performances. … The Cobber pitching staff boasts five pitchers who have logged 20 or more innings this season—led by Cole Christensen (3-3, 5.51 ERA) with 432.2 IP, Alex Erickson (1-2, 3.62 ERA) with 27.1 IP, and Fletcher Andel (1-1, 7.11 ERA) with 25.1 IP. … Zack Nelson (1-1, 1.69 ERA) has made a team-leading 11 appearances—all in releif—while Christensen, Erickson, and Mason Penske (0-9, 4.70Christensen, Erickson, Austin Ver Steeg (2-0, 1.23 ERA), and Ty Syverson (1-2, 3.92 ERA) have tossed the Cobbers' four complete games. … Ver Steeg is the team's strikeout leader with 27. … The Cobbers have been tied or trailing heading into the seventh inning in five of their 13 wins this season. … CC has scored six or more runs in eight of their 12 victories. … Concordia has scored 10 or more runs twice—beating Gwynedd Mercy 10-3 and losing to Alma 14-13—and have allowed 10 or more runs five times, losing all five of those games. … The Cobbers are 6-1 when scoring first, while going 6-12 when their opponent plates the game's first run.