By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — James Green (East Bethel, Minn.) and Matthew Piechowski (Hutchinson, Minn.) have done their part in leading the Saint Mary's University baseball team to a second straight appearance in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament — and the Cardinals' sixth post-season berth in the last eight seasons.
 
That's no secret.
 
What many don't know, however, is that Green and Piechowski have also excelled at a very high level in the classroom as well.
 
And that 1-2 combination has earned the Cardinal duo a spot on the 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-District VI Baseball Team, it was announced Tuesday.
 
The 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-District® Baseball Teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. First-team Academic All-District® honorees advance to the Google Cloud Academic All-America® ballot, which will be announced in June.
 
The Google Cloud Academic All-District® is divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. The Google Cloud Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions—NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and College Division. The College Division includes all NAIA, Canadian, two-year schools and other affiliations.
 
An Education major with a 3.70 GPA, Green has been virtually untouchable in helping lead the Cardinals to their sixth MIAC Tournament berth in the last eight years, compiling a perfect 8-0 record and a microscopic 1.69 ERA in nine appearances this season. The sophomore right-hander — who tossed three consecutive complete-game shutouts during a 13-day, three start stretch in late April — has logged 53.1 innings and has pitched at least six innings in all eight of his starts.
 
Opponents are hitting just .189 against Green, who has accounted for four of the pitching staff's six complete games, boasts a team-high 62 strikeouts — including a career-high 13 against No. 1-ranked Concordia-Chicago on March 22, and has walked just nine batters.
 
Piechowski, meanwhile, has been the Cardinals' offensive leader all season, heading into post-season play hitting a team-best .417, while also leading or sharing the team lead in runs (30), hits (50), triples (4), home runs (2), total bases (71), slugging percentage (.592), on-base percentage (.485), and stolen bases (10).
 
An Accounting/Finance major with a 3.70 GPA, Piechowski has accounted for both of the Cardinals' home runs this season. The junior outfielder belted his first collegiate home run — a grand slam — in the Cardinals' 11-1, season-opening win over Cabrini on Feb. 24, before adding his second of the year in Game 1 against Augsburg on April 23.
 
Green and Piechowski are two of five players from the MIAC named to the 11-player All-District VI Team, being joined by Henry DeCaster of St. Thomas, St. Olaf's Luke Dahl, and Saint John's Jack Schramel.