| Saint Mary's enters Saturday's matchup against Concordia having won six of their last seven, en route to a 13-8 overall record, including a 7-5 mark in conference play. SMU had its season-high five-game winning streak snapped with Thursday's 3-2, Game 1 loss to Saint John's. … With their 3-2 loss and 4-3 win against Saint John's, Saint Mary's has now played nine games decided by two runs or less — including five one-run contests. SMU is 4-1 in one-run games, Thursday's 3-2 decision against SJU being the only loss. … The Cardinals used three, two-run innings to score all six of their runs in Thursday's doubleheader against Saint John's. … Luke Gilbertson (Windom, Minn.) posted the longest outing of his career, pitching 8.1 innings to pick up the win in Game 2 vs. Saint John's Thursday. Kodey Kiel (Owatonna, Minn.) got the game's final two outs for his team-leading third save. … Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.) is hitting a team-best .333 among regulars with 50 or more at-bats, while Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) is also hitting above .300, sitting at .313. … Matthews also leads the Cardinals in hits (21), doubles (7), RBIs (13), total bases (28), and slugging percentage (.444). … The Cardinals have gotten at least one RBI from 16 different players. … Jack Arndt (Coon Rapids, Minn.) and Tyler O'Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn.) belted their first collegiate home runs — the Cardinals' first two round-trippers of the season — in SMU's 5-4 win over Augsburg on April 11. … Zach Drake's (Westby, Wis.) four runs scored in the nightcap against Crown on March 29 were a single-game career-high and marked the first time since Joe Seegers against Rose-Hulman on March 1, 2018 that a Cardinal has scored four runs in a game. … Matthews has posted a team-high six multiple-hit games, while Weinberg owns two of the team's four three-hit performances. … Arndt recorded a two-out double in the bottom of the seventh — his first collegiate hit — to break up St. Thomas' Game 2 no-hit bid on April 3. … Anderson drew a single-game career-high three walks against Luther on March 20. … Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn. / 3-2, 3.86 ERA) has thrown a team-leading 28.0 innings to pace the Cardinal pitching staff, while also leading the team in strikeouts with 20. … Wolfe tossed a complete-game, one-hit shutout against Augsburg on April 10. Wolfe faced just 22 batters — one over the minimum, and allowed one a third-inning single. It was his third career shutout and fifth career complete game. … Justin Haugo (Springfield, Minn.) collected his first collegiate pitching win against Augsburg on April 11, tossing four innings of shutout relief in the Cardinals' 5-4 victory. … Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) earned his first win as a Cardinal, throwing four scoreless innings in relief, allowing two hits and striking out eight in Saint Mary's 5-3 Game 1 win over Augsburg on March 16. Jordan Zabel (Elgin, Minn.), meanwhile, collected his first collegiate pitching win against Gustavus on March 26, tossing three innings of shutout, one-hit relief. … Jonathan Cieminski (Fountain City, Wis.) recorded his first collegiate save in the nightcap against Carleton on April 6, facing the minimum nine batters in three innings of relief. … Saint Mary's scored a season-high 10 runs twice in its March 29 nonconference split against Crown. SMU won the opener 10-4, before falling 12-10 in the nightcap. … The Cardinals scored in 11 of the 13 innings they batted in against Crown on March 29 — including scoring at least one run in all six innings of their 10-4, Game 1 win. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 19-5 in the seventh inning. … Saint Mary's is 7-0 when holding its opponent to two runs or less. … The Cardinals' 10 runs in both games of their doubleheader against Crown on March 29 were a season-high. … 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 win |
The Cobbers headed into their weekend games against Augsburg and Saint Mary's having dropped three of their last four and sporting a 2-2 mark in conference play, while going 8-6 overall. … The Cobbers split their most recent doubleheader against Hamline, winning 10-7 in the opener, before falling 5-4 in the nightcap. … Concordia has now played Hamline five times in its first 14 games, going 3-2 against the Pipers. … Sean McGuire owns a team-leading .458 batting average, while Matt Gruber (.426) and Ben Swanson (.400) are also hitting at or above .400. … Gruber leads the team in hits with 23, one more than McGuire, while Andy Gravdahl has scored a team-high 17 runs. … CC has recorded 47 extra-base hits this season — including seven home runs. CC's seven home runs have come from six different players. Thomas Horan, who leads the team with 16 RBIs, is the only Cobber to hit more than one round-tripper this season. … Ty Syverson (4-1, 1.30 ERA) has been the workhorse of the Cobber pitching staff,, tossing 27.2 innings, while also leading or sharing the team lead in wins (4), starts (4), and strikeouts 42. … Mason Penske (0-0, 2.89 ERA, 9.1 IP) owns both of CC's saves. … The Cobbers have played four one-run games, going 2-2. … Concordia is 6-1 when scoring six or more runs, while going a perfect 4-0 when holding the opposition under three runs.Â
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