By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team returns to conference play on Tuesday, as the Cardinals head to Parade Stadium for an MIAC doubleheader against Augsburg. First pitch in Game 1 is set for 4 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (8-6 MIAC, 16-14 Overall) at Augsburg Auggies (4-10 MIAC, 8-20 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 20, 2019 * Max Molock Field * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals got a complete-game, three-hit shutout from James Green (East Bethel, Minn.) in beating Concordia 1-0 in the opening game of their MIAC doubleheader. The Cobbers bounced back by scoring four runs in the second and never relinquishing the lead in beating Saint Mary's 6-4 in the nightcap | Recap
• Augsburg—April 20, 2019 * Parade Stadium * Minneapolis, Minn.: The Auggies earned a split in their conference series against Saint John's, coming away with a 4-2 win in the opener, only to drop the nightcap 12-3 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Augsburg — Their Last Meeting:
• May 2, 2018 * Max Molock Field * Winona, Minn.: Coming into their doubleheader against Augsburg, the Cardinals had earned back-to-back splits in its last two Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference twinbills. And history had a way of repeating itself, as the Cardinals bounced back from a 6-1 loss to the Auggies in Game 1 with a 5-3 victory in the nightcap | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals step out of conference play on Thursday, hosting UW-La Crosse in a pair of nonconference games at Max Molock Field. First pitch in Game 1 is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
• Augsburg: The Auggies are now off until Saturday, when they travel to St. Peter, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC twinbill against Gustavus.
 
Scouting the Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• With their split against Concordia on Saturday, the Cardinals have now split eight of their 10 doubleheaders this season — including five straight conference splits against St. Olaf, St. Thomas, Macalester, Hamline, and Concordia. Saint Mary's has also split against John Carroll, St. Scholastica, and Saint John's, while sweeping Carleton and MSOE. … Last Thursday's Game 1 loss to Hamline marked the only time in the last seven doubleheaders that the Cardinals have lost the opening game. … The Cardinals' 1-0 win over Concordia in the opener Saturday marked the fourth straight doubleheader in which Game 1 was decided by shutout — Saint Mary's lost to Hamline (5-0), and beat Macalester (2-0) and St. Thomas (4-0) in its previous three twinbills. … Saint Mary's has now held its opponents to two runs or less in each of their last nine wins. … Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.), Hunter Gustafson (Webster, Wis.), and Zach Drake (Westby, Wis.) had the Cardinals' three hits in their 1-0 win over Concordia Saturday while Piechowski went 3-for-4 and Dirk Drohner (Plover, Wis.) chipped in a pair of hits to pace the Cardinals' in the nightcap. … Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) was held hitless in the nightcap against Hamline last Thursday, snapping the junior's hitting streak at a career-high 20 games. It was the longest hitting streak since Ben Buerkle hit safely in 20 consecutive games during the 2014 season. … Despite having his hitting streak snapped, Weinberg has reached base safely in 23 straight games. … Piechowski heads into the Cardinals twinbill against Augsburg leading the team with a .434 batting average. He is one of five Cardinal players hitting above .300, being joined by Weinberg (.381), Gustafson (.314), Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill. / .312), and Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis. / .304). … Piechowski also leads or shares the team lead in runs (26), hits (42), triples (4), home runs (1), total bases (59), slugging percentage (.596), on-base percentage (.509), and stolen bases (8). … Piechowski belted his first collegiate home run — a grand slam — in the Cardinals' 11-1, season-opening win over Cabrini on Feb. 24 … Tyler O'Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn.) picked up his first two collegiate hits in the second game against Macalester on April 15 — delivering a lead-off single in both the seventh and ninth innings. … O'Brien became the fourth Cardinal to pick up his first collegiate hit(s) this season, joining Gustafson, Taylor Anderson (Waukesha, Wis.), and Joe Bauer (Pine Island, Minn.), who all collected their first collegiate hits during the Cardinals' spring trip. … Dixon Irwin (Red Wing, Minn.) notched his first collegiate three-hit game against Concordia-Moorhead on March 22. … Liam Belleveau (Middleton, Wis.) went 2-for-4 with his first two collegiate triples in the Cardinals' win over Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 25. Belleveau then recorded his first collegiate three-hit game, while posting career-highs with three RBIs and three runs scored against Rose-Hulman the following day. … Saint Mary's has collected 259 hits this season, including 55 for extra bases — 45 doubles, nine triples, and one home run. … The Cardinals, who set a single-game school record with 16 walks against Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 25, have drawn 115 walks this season — led by Tepp with 19 and Matthews with 18. … The Cardinals have recorded 71 multiple-hit games, led by Piechowski (14), Weinberg (13), and Matthews (10). … Tepp leads the team with seven multiple-RBI games, two more than Matthews. … James Green (East Bethel, Minn.) — coming off a complete-game, seven-hit shutout of Macalester on April 15 — posted his second straight shutout against Concordia on Saturday, limiting the Cobbers to just three hits in the 1-0 victory. … Green has now thrown back-to-back complete-game shutouts and has gone at least six innings in each of his seven starts. … Green, who now owns three career complete-game shutouts, struck out 11 Macalester batters on April 15. It was the second time this season the sophomore has struck out more than 10 batters — having fanned a career-high 13 against Concordia-Chicago on March 22. … Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) recorded his first complete game of the season on April 9, tossing a six-hit, eight-inning shutout against St. Thomas. … Wolfe has now shut out of the Tommies for 17 consecutive innings — having tossed a complete-game, four-hit gem in Saint Mary's 1-0 victory on April 10, 2018. … Green and Wolfe lead the team with 45.1 IP, while Eli Morison (Minneapolis, Minn. / 32.2 IP) has also logged more than 30 innings on the mound this season. … With his two wins last week, Green — last year's MIAC Rookie of the Year — improved to 6-0 and lowered his ERA to 1.59. … Kodey Kiel (Owatonna, Minn.) — who notched his team-leading fourth save in Game 1 against St. Olaf on April 6, boasts a team-best 0.77 ERA in nine appearances (11.2 IP). … Tyler Stilp (Lindstrom, Minn. / 1-0, 8.16 ERA) has made a team-high 15 appearances on the mound — all in relief — while Jake Kramlinger (White Bear Lake, Minn. / 0-2, 4.66 ERA) has made 11 relief appearances. … Green has struck out a team-leading 55 batters, followed by Wolfe with 35. … Luke Gilbertson (Windom, Minn. / 2-1, 7.36 ERA) earned his first win in a Cardinal uniform — allowing two runs on four hits in four innings in Game 2 against MSOE on Feb. 25, while Jake Kramlinger and Kiel each recorded their first collegiate saves — Kramlinger's vs. MSOE on Feb. 25 and Kiel's against Neumann on March 1. … The Cardinals have used 17 different pitchers this season. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 24-14 in the first inning and 19-10 in the fifth. On the flip side, the Cardinals have been outscored 20-10 in the eighth inning and 12-2 in the ninth. … Saint Mary's has scored three or more runs in 24 of their 30 games this season. … With their 4-0, eight-inning win over St. Thomas on April 9, the Cardinals have posted a shutout win over the Tommies in each of their last two conference doubleheaders — Saint Mary's blanked UST 1-0 in nine innings on April 10, 2018, in Mauston, Wis. … Saint Mary's scored a season-high 14 runs in its 18-14 loss to Rose-Hulman on Feb. 26. … The Cardinals' eight-inning, 4-0 win over St. Thomas in the opener on April 9 was their second extra-inning game of the season. Saint Mary's dropped a 9-7, 11-inning contest to Concordia on March 22. … Saint Mary's 11-inning loss to Concordia on March 22 was the Cardinals' longest game since dropping a 7-6, 13-inning decision against Wartburg on Feb. 27, 2017. … The Cardinals are 13-3 when leading after the sixth inning, while going 2-10 when tied or trailing heading into the seventh inning. … The Cardinals — who made their second MIAC Playoff appearance in the last three years, and their fifth in the last seven seasons a year ago — were picked to finish fifth in the 2019 MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
Scouting the Augsburg Auggies:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• Tuesday's games against Saint Mary's are the eighth and ninth straight home games for the Auggies, who are 2-5 during their current seven-game homestand. … Augsburg's 4-2 Game 1 win over Saint John's last Saturday snapped the Auggies' four-game losing streak. … Mike Brookshaw and Clayton Bodine enter the Auggies' showdown against Saint Mary's leading the team with .298 and .297 batting averages, respectively. … Brookshaw also leads the team in at-bats (94), runs (16), hits (28), RBIs (15), total bases (38), slugging percentage (.404), and walks (13). … Bodine has belted a team-high six doubles, one more than Brookshaw, Joe Rydel (.274), and Walker Rogers (.253), while Augsburg's five triples have come from five different players — Brookshaw, Bodine, Dan Phyle (.265), Troy Ouellette (.211), and Brayden Gray (.211) — and Brookshaw, Phyle, and Rogers have hit Augsburg's three home runs. … The Auggies are 25-for-32 in the stolen base department, led by Brookshaw, who is 10-for-12. … Jayme Kaye pitched his sixth complete game in seven starts in beating Saint John's last Saturday. Kaye allowed two runs on seven hits, while striking out five in the 4-2 victory. … Kaye has tossed a team-leading 52.2 innings, while Mathew Nicklay is second with 33.2 innings pitched. … Kaye has made a team-leading seven starts, compiling a 5-2 record and a 1.88 ERA, while Joey Tschida (0-0, 4.50 ERA) has made a team-high eight appearances — all in relief. … Along with Kaye's six complete games, Charles Linder (1-2, 3.20 ERA) and Jacob Kraft (1-3, 5.82 ERA) have tossed Augsburg's other two complete games, while Dylan Irving (0-2, 3.06 ERA) owns the staff's lone save. … Augsburg has scored just three first-inning runs, being outscored 22-3 in the game's first frame. … Augsburg has been held to two runs or less in 10 of their 20 losses this season. On the flip side, the Auggies have surrendered six or more runs in 12 of their 20 losses — including giving up 10 or more runs six times. … Augsburg is 8-4 when tied or leading after the sixth inning, but the Auggies are winless (0-16) when trailing heading into the seventh inning.