| Saint Mary's enters Sunday's matchup against Concordia having won eight of their last nine — including Saturday's 10-3, 8-7 sweep of the Cobbers — en route to a 15-8 overall record, including a 9-5 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 8-7, 10-inning win over Concordia, Saint Mary's has now played 10 games decided by two runs or less — including six one-run contests. SMU is 5-1 in one-run games, Thursday's 3-2 decision against SJU being the only loss. … Saturday's 8-7, 10-inning win over Concordia was the Cardinals' first extra-inning game of the season. … Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.) went 3-for-4 in the opener, with Tyler O'Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn.), Jack Arndt (Coon Rapids, Minn.), and Zach Drake (Wesbty, Wis.) each adding two hits. O'Brien went 3-for-6 — including a walk-off, two-run double in the bottom of the 10th — in the nightcap. … Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.) is hitting a team-best .329 among regulars with 50 or more at-bats, while Weinberg and O'Brien are also hitting above .300, sitting at .315 and .313, respectively. … Matthews also leads the Cardinals in hits (23), doubles (8), RBIs (14), total bases (31), and slugging percentage (.443). … The Cardinals have gotten at least one RBI from 18 different players. … Arndt and O'Brien 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 seven multiple-hit games, while Weinberg owns three 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. … Taylor Anderson (Waukesha, Wis.) drew a single-game career-high three walks against Luther on March 20. … Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn. / 4-2, 3.55 ERA) has thrown a team-leading 33.0 innings to pace the Cardinal pitching staff, while also leading the team in wins (4) and strikeouts with 22. … 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. … 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. … 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 10 runs in Game 1 against Concordia Saturday marked the third time this season the Cardinals have scored 10 runs in a game. SMU scored 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 20-7 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 Sunday's nine-inning matchup against Saint Mary's having dropped six of their last eight and sporting a 3-5 mark in conference play, while going 9-9 overall. … Concordia has played Hamline five times in its first 14 games, going 3-2 against the Pipers. … Sean McGuire owns a team-leading .438 batting average, while Matt Gruber (.423) and Ben Swanson (.410) are also hitting at or above .400. … Gruber leads the team in hits with 30, two more than McGuire, while Andy Gravdahl has scored a team-high 19 runs. … CC has recorded 57 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 (5-1, 1.01 ERA) has been the workhorse of the Cobber pitching staff,, tossing 35.2 innings, while also leading or sharing the team lead in wins (5), starts (5), and strikeouts 56. … Mason Penske (0-0, 2.20 ERA, 16.1 IP) owns both of CC's saves. … The Cobbers have played six one-run games, going 2-4. … Concordia is 6-2 when scoring six or more runs, while going a perfect 4-0 when holding the opposition under three runs.
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