| With Monday's nonconference doubleheader against Crown, the Cardinals are in the midst of playing five straight home games, and seven of their last nine on their home diamond. … Saint Mary's kicked off conference play with a split against Gustavus last Friday, falling 10-3 in the opener, before rallying from a 5-1 deficit to win the nightcap 9-5. … Taylor Anderson (Waukesha, Wis.) had two hits in the opener against the Gusties last Friday, while Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) and Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.) had two-hit games in the nightcap. … Matthews hat his season-opening six-game hitting streak snapped in the first game against Gustavus last Friday. With his two Game 2 hits vs. GAC, Matthews has collected at least one hit in seven of SMU's eight games this season. … Six Cardinal regulars are hitting above .300 this season, led by Matthews at .500. Weinberg (.440), Anderson (.360), Tyler O'Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn. / .308), Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn. / .300), and Cameron Weber ( / .300) are the other five. Saint Mary's owns 11 extra-base hits — all doubles — among their 65 hits this season. Matthews and O'Brien have each belted three of those nine doubles, with Anderson chipping in two. … Matthews leads the Cardinals with nine RBIs, four more than Anderson, O'Brien, and Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.). … Matthews has posted a team-high five multiple-hit games, while Weinberg owns two of the team's three-hit performances. … Anderson drew a single-game career-high three walks. … Jordan Zabel (Elgin, Minn.) collected his first collegiate pitching win against Gustavus last Friday, tossing three innings of scoreless, one-hit relief. … Zabel made his first collegiate pitching start in Game 2 against Augsburg on March 16, allowing just one hit in 4.2 innings and striking out seven in a no-decision. … Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) picked up his second win, tossing 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief against Luther on March 20. The freshman earned his first win as a Cardinal, throwing four innings of scoreless, two-hit, eight-strikeout relief in Saint Mary's 5-3 Game 1 win over Augsburg on March 16. … Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn.) tossed a complete-game four-hitter in SMU's 2-1 Game 1 win over Luther on March 14. It was his fourth career complete game. … Wolfe (2-1, 5.06 ERA) has thrown a team-high 16.0 innings, while Hochevar has struck out a team-leading 12 batters, two more than Zabel. … As a pitching staff, the Cardinals boast a 3.00 ERA and opponents are hitting just .227. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 12-5 in the first inning, and have scored at least one first-inning run in each of the first seven innings this season. … With their 5-3 win and 4-2 loss to Augsburg on March 16, the Cardinal have played four games this season decided by two runs or less. Saint Mary's beat Luther 2-1 and 4-2 on March 14. … The Cardinals' DH vs. Luther on March 14 was their first home game in 683 days, dating back to a conference DH vs. Gustavus on May 1, 2019. … Saint Mary's 4-2, Game 2 loss to Augsburg on March 16 snapped its season-opening four-game winning streak and its seven-game winning streak overall — the Cardinals had ended their pandemic-shortened 2020 season with three straight wins. |
The Storm enter Monday's nonconference doubleheader on the heels of a split in their two games with Augsburg on Saturday, beating the Auggies 8-0 in the opener, before falling 3-2 in the nightcap. … Chad Herrera went 3-for-3 and Seth Betts added two hits in three at-bats with a pair of RBIs and three runs scored in Crown's 8-0, Game 1 win over Augsburg last Saturday. Bailey Sarto delivered a 2-for-4 performance to lead the Storm in the 3-2 loss to the Auggies in the nightcap. … Sarto is the team's batting leader through 18 games this season, hitting .340. Herrera (.328) and Kyle Schroedle (.321) are also hitting above .300 for the Storm. … Herrera has belted a team-high 19 hits, two more than Sarto, Schroedle, Mason Brock, and Betts. … Betts has scored a team-leading 17 runs, while Sarto is the team-leader in doubles with six. … Schroedle (20), Brock (12) and Sarto (11) have all driven in 10 or more runs this season. … The Storm have launched 18 home runs this season, led by Schroedle with six and Brock and Betts with four and three, respectively. … Crown boasts five pitchers who have thrown more than 10 innings this season, led by Schroedle (1-3, 9.27 ERA, 22.1 IP), Gavin Boots (0-1, 3.26 ERA, 19.1 IP), and Eric Newman (2-1, 1.53 ERA, 18.1 IP). … Schroedle and Newman are the staff's strikeout leaders with 24 and 23, respectively, while the duo have also tossed Crown's two complete games. … Crown has scored eight or more runs in a game six times this season, going 3-3 in those six contests. … The Storm scored a season-high 18 runs in beating UW-Superior 18-4 on March 2. On the flip side, Crown surrendered a season-high 19 runs in falling to Gustavus 19-2 on March 12. … Saint Mary's is the eighth opponent from the MIAC for the Storm, who have already faced Saint John's (L 13-10), Bethel (L, 7-1, 7-1), Hamline (L, 3-2, L, 7-2), Gustavus (L, 8-1, L, 19-2), and Concordia (L, 10-2, W, 5-4), and Augsburg (W, 8-0, L, 3-2).
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