| The Cardinals return home for two more games against St. Thomas, the first a nine-inning conference contest, following by a seven-inning nonconference game. … Saint Mary's dropped both ends of its MIAC doubleheader against St. Thomas on Friday, falling to the Tommies 7-1 in the opener and 17-2 in the nightcap. The Cardinals were limited to just six hits against UST pitching Friday — Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.), Will Matthews (Geneva, Wis.), Liam Belleveau (Middleton, Wis.), and Zach Drake (Westby, Wis.) in the opener, while Tyler O'Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn.) and Will Matthews (Geneva, Wis.) had SMU's two hits in the nightcap. … Friday's back-to-back losses to St. Thomas Friday marked the first time this season the Cardinals have been swept in a doubleheader. Saint Mary's had gone 1-1 in its last two doubleheaders at Max Molock Field — splitting its conference-opener against Gustavus (L, 10-3; W, 9-5) and splitting its nonconference twinbill against Crown (W, 10-4; L, 12-10). … With Monday's split against Crown, the Cardinals have now split three of their five doubleheaders this season — the lone sweep, 2-1 and 4-2 wins over Luther on March 14. … Saint Mary's scored a season-high 10 runs twice in last Monday's 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 in Monday's split against Crown — including scoring at least one run in all six innings of their 10-4, Game 1 win. … Zach Drake (Westby, Wis.) had five hits in seven at-bats against the Storm on Monday — including a perfect 3-for-3, four-run, 3-RBI effort in Game 2. … Drake's four runs scored in the nightcap 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. … Four Cardinal regulars are hitting above .300 this season, led by Matthews' .405 batting average. Weinberg (.351), Drake (.333), and Taylor Anderson (Waukesha, Wis. / .306). … Saint Mary's owns 17 extra-base hits — all doubles — among their 91 hits this season. Matthews has belted four of those 17 doubles, one more than O'Brien. … Matthews leads the Cardinals with 10 RBIs, three more than Weinberg and Anderson. … The Cardinals have gotten at least one RBI from 14 different players. … Matthews has posted a team-high five multiple-hit games, while Weinberg owns two of the team's four three-hit performances. … Anderson drew a single-game career-high three walks against Luther on March 20. … Jordan Zabel (Elgin, Minn.) collected his first collegiate pitching win against Gustavus on March 26, tossing three innings of shutout, 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.) moved into a tie for the team lead in wins (2), tossing 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief against Luther on March 20. The freshman 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. … 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 (2-2, 5.14 ERA) has thrown a team-high 21.0 innings, while Jonathan Cieminski (Fountain City, Wis.) leads the team with 13 strikeouts, followed by Hochevar and Zabel with 12, and Wolfe with 11. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 14-8 in the first inning, and have scored at least one first-inning run in eight of their 12 games this season. … With their 12-10, Game 2 loss to Crown on Monday, the Cardinal have played five games this season decided by two runs or less. … The Cardinals' 10 runs in both games of last Monday's doubleheader against Crown 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 wins. |
The Tommies pushed their winning streak to a season-high three straight with their 7-1 and 17-2 wins over Saint Mary's on Friday. … The Tommies' 17 runs in their Game 2 win over Saint Mary's were a season high — and were five runs shy of the combined total of their other eight games. … Five of the Tommies last seven games have been decided by two runs or less — including one-run decisions in each of their last three. … The Tommies, who are hitting just .246 as a team, boast two players hitting above .300 with more than 10 at-bats — Sam Kulesa (.421) and Matthew Enck (.313). … Enck leads the team with 10 hits, one more than Avery Lehman and two in front of Kulesa. … St. Thomas has recorded 16 extra-base hits among its 65 hits this season. Enck, Lehman, Charlie Bartholomew, and Jake Porter all share the team lead with two doubles. Kulesa, Max Moris, Porter, and Jordan Amundson have his UST's three triples, and Kyle Halverson has hit UST's only two home runs. … St. Thomas has stolen 14 bases in 19 attempts through nine games, led by Lehman with five steals in five tries. … Andrew Tri (2-1, 0.44 ERA) and Graham Laubscher (1-2, 2.50 ERA) have been the workhorses of the Tommie pitching staff, tossing 20.2 and 18.0 innings respectively. …  The Tommies have used 13 different pitchers, with the group recording 100 strikeouts and combining for a 1.42 ERA. …  Five Tommie pitchers combined on a five-hitter with 15 strikeouts in last Monday's 2-1 win over Northwestern last Monday. … Opponents are hitting just .172 against the UST staff through nine games.
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