By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball returns to conference play on Tuesday, as the Cardinals travel to St. Thomas' Koch Diamond for an MIAC doubleheader against the Tommies. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-2 MIAC, 12-10 Overall) at St. Thomas Tommies (3-1 MIAC, 11-6 Overall), 1 p.m.
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats: Game 1 * Game 2 * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—April 6 2019 * Max Molock Field * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals recorded a conference split against St. Olaf in their home opener, riding the right arm of James Green (East Bethel, Minn.) to a 3-2 win in Game 1, while the Oles bounced back with a 13-2 victory in the nightcap | Recap
• St. Thomas—April 4, 2019 * Copeland Park * La Crosse, Wis.: The Tommies dropped a pair of nonconference games to UW-La Crosse, surrendering six runs in both games in falling to the Eagles 6-1 and 6-0 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas — Their Last Meeting:
• April 10, 2018 * Max Molock Field * Winona, Minn.: After surrendering 10 runs in dropping Game 1 against the Tommies 10-3, the Cardinals rode the right arm of Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) to the Game 2 win, as the sophomore tossed his first collegiate complete-game shutout in leading Saint Mary's to the 1-0, nine-inning victory | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to Max Molock Field on Saturday, hosting Macalester in a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies hit the road Saturday, heading to St. Peter, Minn., for a pair of conference games against Gustavus. Game 1 opening pitch is set for 1 p.m.
 
Scouting the Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• After playing their first 20 games of the season on the road, the Cardinals finally kicked off the home portion of their schedule against St. Olaf last Saturday. Saint Mary's finished 4-4 in its eight games at Max Molock Field a year ago. … With their split against St. Olaf last Saturday, the Cardinals have now split four of their six doubleheaders this season. Saint Mary's has also split against John Carroll, St. Scholastica, and Saint John's, while sweeping Carleton and MSOE. … With their 3-2 win in the opener against St. Olaf last Saturday, Saint Mary's has now held its opponents to two runs or less in each of their last five wins. … Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) went 2-for-4 in Game 2 against St. Olaf last Saturday and has now had two hits in four of his last five games — and has recorded eight multiple-hit games in his last 11 contests. … Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.) had two hits in both games against St. Olaf last Saturday, while Hunter Gustafson (Webster, Wis.) posted his first collegiate three-hit game in Game 2 vs. the Oles. … Piechowski heads into the Cardinals twinbill against St. Thomas leading the team with a .436 batting average. He is one of four Cardinal players hitting above .300, being joined by Weinberg (.397), Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill. / .338), and Gustafson (.321). … Piechowski also leads or shares the team lead in runs (21), hits (34), triples (3), home runs (1), total bases (46), slugging percentage (.590), on-base percentage (.516), 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 … Dixon Irwin (Red Wing, Minn.) notched his first collegiate three-hit game against Concordia-Moorhead on March 22. … Liam Belleveau (Middleton, Wis.) — who moved into a share of the team lead with his third triple of the season against Carleton on April 3 — went 2-for-4 — picking up 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. … Gustafson, Taylor Anderson (Waukesha, Wis.), and Joe Bauer (Pine Island, Minn.) all collected their first collegiate hits during the Cardinals' spring trip. … Saint Mary's has collected 204 hits this season, including 45 for extra bases — 36 doubles, eight 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 97 walks this season — led by Matthews with 16 and Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.) with 13. … The Cardinals have recorded 58 multiple-hit games, led by Piechowski with 12 and Weinberg with 11. … Tepp leads the team with six multiple-RBI games, one more than Matthews. … With hits in both games against St. Olaf, Weinberg is riding a career-high 15-game hitting streak. … James Green (East Bethel, Minn.) picked up his team-leading fourth win (against zero losses) against St. Olaf Saturday, allowing two runs on five hits in six innings of work. … Green — last year's MIAC Rookie of the Year — has thrown six or more innings in all five of his starts this season. … Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) and Eli Morison (Minneapolis, Minn.) picked up the pitching wins against Carleton on April 3— both going six innings — while Tyler Stilp (Lindstrom, Minn.) notched the save in both contests. … Green (4-0, 2.30 ERA) leads the team in innings pitched with 31.1, followed by Wolfe (2-1, 2.45 ERA, 29.1 IP), Morison (Minneapolis, Minn. / 3-2, 6.57 ERA, 24.2 IP), and Jonathan Cieminski (1-2, 8.83 ERA, 17.1 IP). … Green tossed the Cardinals' first complete game of the season with a four-hitter in Saint Mary's 2-1 win over Saint John's on March 30. … Kodey Kiel (Owatonna, Minn.) — who notched his team-leading fourth save in Game 1 against St. Olaf last Saturday, boasts a team-best 0.82 ERA in eight appearances (11.0 IP). … Green has struck out a team-leading 38 batters, followed by Wolfe (26), Morison (14), Cieminski (13), and Kiel (12). … Luke Gilbertson (Windom, Minn.) 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 (White Bear Lake, Minn.) 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 15 different pitchers, with Stilp having made a team-leading 12 appearances. … Saint Mary's has outscored its opponents 22-12 in the first inning and 17-9 in the fifth. On the flip side, the Cardinals have been outscored 20-6 in the eighth inning and 9-0 in the ninth. … Saint Mary's has scored three or more runs in 19 of their 22 games this season — the lone exceptions, a 2-1 win and 12-1 loss to No. 20 Saint John's on March 30, and a 13-2 loss to St. Olaf last Saturday. … Saint Mary's scored a season-high 14 runs in its 18-14 loss to Rose-Hulman on Feb. 26. … Saint Mary's 9-7, 11-inning loss to Concordia on March 22 was its first extra-inning game, and the Cardinals' longest game since dropping a 7-6, 13-inning decision against Wartburg on Feb. 27, 2017. … The Cardinals are 11-3 when leading after the sixth inning, while going 1-7 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 St. Thomas Tommies:
2019 Roster | 2019 Schedule | 2019 Statistics
• The Tommies' doubleheader against Saint Mary's is the second home twinbill of the season for UST, which split its home opener against Macalester on April 3, falling 9-3 in Game 1, before rebounding with a 4-1 victory in the nightcap. … After opening the season 10-3, the Tommies have dropped three of their last four — including back-to-back losses to UW-La Crosse last Thursday. … The Tommies' two games against UW-La Crosse last Thursday capped a stretch of 13 games in 15 days for UST. … Kyle Halverson heads into the Tommies DH against Saint Mary's leading the team with a .333 batting average. He is one of two Tommies hitting above .300 this season, being joined by Avery Lehman (.327). … Along with his team-leading .333 batting average, Halverson also leads or shares the team lead in hits (21), RBIs (13), walks (10), on-base percentage (.425), and slugging percentage (.460). … Lehman holds down the team lead 15 runs scored, while Chandler Schaefbauer has laced a team-leading five doubles and Sam Cobbs boasts a team-high three triples. … Dan Bollingberg and Ryan Lust join Halverson with a team-best 13 RBIs. … Lust owns the team's only home run through 17 games. … St. Thomas is 52-for-59 in stolen base attempts, led by Bollingberg, Lust, and Lehman with eight each. … Halvorson has amassed seven multiple-hit games — all two-hit efforts — while also sharing the team lead with Bollingberg and Schaefbauer with three multiple-RBI performances. … Halverson owns the team's longest hitting streak at 14 games, but the longest active streak is just three. … St. Thomas boasts three pitchers — Henry Decaster (27.2 IP), Graham Laubscher (22.1 IP), and Dylan Brend (16.0 IP) — who have logged more than 10 innings on the mound this season. … Decaster (3-1, 2.60 ERA) has made a team-leading four starts, one more than Laubscher (1-1, 3.22 ERA) and Brend (2-0, 2.25 ERA). … Andrew Tri (1-1, 4.61 ERA) has made a team-high six pitching appearances — all in relief. … Shaun Falbo (0-1, 3.60 ERA) has collected two of the team's three saves, with Tri earning the other. … Tommie pitchers have struck out 130 batters through 17 games, led by Decaster with 28, Laubscher with 19, and Tri with 18. … The Tommies have outscored their opponents in every inning except the 10th — including 33-20 after the fifth inning. … St. Thomas has held its opponent to two runs or less in seven of its 11 wins this season — and the Tommies have not allowed more than five runs in any of their 11 victories. … St. Thomas has scored first in eight of its 11 wins and are a near-perfect 10-1 when leading after the sixth inning. … The Tommies have played one extra-inning games this season — falling to the University of Dubuque 4-3 on March 10.