• IN THE REGIONAL: The Cardinals, who erupted for 15 runs on 18 hits — including a two-run, ninth-inning home run by Andy Tepp that broke a 13-13 tie and carried SMU to a 15-13 win over second-seeded Aurora in their regional opener on Friday — dropped a 3-1 decision to Northwestern Saturday evening. … Ryan Wolfe tossed a complete-game, seven-hitter and equaled his career-high with nine strikeouts against the Eagles, while Taylor Anderson delivered his second straight four-hit game to lead the SMU offense.
• HOW THEY GOT HERE: The Cardinals earned a spot in the NCAA Regional by winning the MIAC Playoff championship, beating St. Thomas 6-3 in the title game. SMU finished the six-team tournament 4-1 to earn its first-ever MIAC Playoff Title.
• A LONG TIME COMING: Saint Mary's appearance in the NCAA Regional marks the first time since 1993 that the Cardinals have qualified for the national tournament. Saint Mary's finished 4-2 in regional play that year, falling to UW-Oshkosh 6-0 in the opener, before bouncing back with wins over UW-Whitewater (5-3), Concordia (12-7), and UW-Oshkosh (4-2), before falling to the Titans 5-2 in the championship game.
• REGIONAL FOES:?Saint Mary's has only faced two of the other five teams in the regional. The Cardinals lost to Aurora 4-0 in their last meeting on March 16, 2018, while sweeping the University of Northwestern 4-1 and 10-5 on March 18, 2015, prior to Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Eagles. SMU?has never faced Johns Hopkins, Trinity (Texas) or Misericordia.
• MAKING HISTORY: The Cardinals' win over Aurora on Friday was their program-record 30th of the season. SMU surpassed the previous single-season record of 28 with its 6-3 win over St. Thomas in the MIAC Playoff title game on May 22. … Saint Mary's has now won 20 or more games five times under current head coach Nick Winecke. … Speaking of records, the Cardinals have stolen a program-record 87 bases on 104 attempts. … SMU also broke the single-season school record for games played with their 45th game on Friday. Individually, Matthews is tied for the with Willie Doll '16 for the single-season record in doubles (17) and Tyler O'Brien has shattered the program marked for times hit by a pitch with 16. Justin Weinberg is currently sitting third all-time in career hits with 182. He trails Doll (220) and Ben Buerkle '17 (233).
• ON A ROLL: The Cardinals enter their Sunday NCAA Regional game against Johns Hopkins having won five of their last seven, eight of their last 11, and nine of their last 13.
ª STREAK-SNAPPING: Saint Mary's first 6-3 win over St. Thomas in the MIAC Playoffs on May 21 snapped a five-game losing streak against the Tommies, while the Cardinals' 17-5 win over Gustavus a day earlier ended a three-game, post-season slump against the Gusties.
• AT THE PLATE: Anderson is the team's batting leader, boasting a .344 average, while Justin Weinberg (.335), Will Matthews (.322), and Andy Tepp (.307) are also hitting above .300. … Weinberg also enters Sunday's game leading the team in at-bats (158), runs (40), and hits (53). … Matthews is the team-leader in doubles (17), total bases (77), and slugging percentage (.507), while Anderson owns team-highs in walks (21) and on-base percentage (.438).
• STRINGING IT TOGETHER: Weinberg boasts a team-best 16 multiple-hit games, one more than Matthews. Anderson has put together back-to-back four-hit games, with Weinberg and Joey Costello have also recorded four hits in a game this season. Tepp leads the team lead with 11 multiple-RBI games.
• RUNNING THE BASES: Tepp enters Sunday's NCAA game against Johns Hopkins riding a 12-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in each of the Cardinals' last 25 games. Joey Costello had his season- and career-high 13-game hit streak snapped against St. Thomas on May 21, but has been on base in 18 straight games.
• GOING YARD: Tepp and Weinberg each hit home runs against Aurora on Friday — it was Saint Mary's second multi-home run game of the year. … Weinberg and Matthews lead the team with three home runs each, one more than both Liam Belleveau and Tyler O'Brien, while Tepp and Jack Arndt (Coon Rapids, Minn.) own the other two. … Belleveau's HR vs. Concordia on April 17, and O'Brien's and Arndt's round-trippers against Augsburg on April 11, were all collegiate firsts.
• OFFENSIVE FIRST-TIMERS: Costello and Anderson each recorded their first collegiate four-hit games against Aurora on Saturday, while Saint Mary's boasts two other players who have posted their first collegiate three-hit games this season — O'Brien, and Trevon VanEgtern. … Zach Drake's 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. … Belleveau drove in a career-high five runs against Gustavus on May 20 — the most RBIs in a game by a Cardinal this season. VanEgtern, meanwhile, drove in a career-high four runs in SMU's 14-6, Game 2 loss to the Oles on April 24 — it's the Cardinals' only four-RBI game this season.
• ON THE MOUND: Ryan Wolfe (7-4, 3.69 ERA) and Luke Gilbertson (7-0, 3.38 ERA) have been the workhorses of the Cardinal pitching staff, tossing 70.2 and 66.2 innings, respectively. … Gilbertson and Wolfe share the team lead with seven pitching wins, while Addison Hochevar has made a team-best 14 pitching appearances. … Jonathan Cieminski leads the Cardinal staff in strikeouts with 41, including a career-high seven in 3.1 innings of relief against Concordia on May 19. … Kodey Kiel picking up his team-leading fifth save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning against Aurora Friday night.
• GOING THE DISTANCE: Wolfe and Gilbertson have each thrown a team-leading three complete games. The duo own all six of Saint Mary's complete games this season.
• PITCHING MILESTONES: Gilbertson notched a complete-game, six-hit shutout in Game 2 against Macalester on April 22 for his first collegiate complete game, and first collegiate shutout. … 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. … Wolfe hurled four innings of one-run, four-hit relief in the MIAC Playoff title game for his first save of his five-year collegiate career. … Wolfe equaled his season- and career-high with nine strikeouts against Northwestern on Saturday. … Justin Haugo (1-1, 1.80 ERA) collected his first collegiate pitching win against Augsburg on April 11, tossing four innings of shutout relief in the Cardinals' 5-4 victory. … Hochevar (4-1, 2.10 ERA) earned his first win as a Cardinal against Augsburg on March 16, and notched his first collegiate save against Hamline on . … Jordan Zabel (Elgin, Minn. / 2.2, 5.25 ERA) collected his first collegiate pitching win against Gustavus on March 26. … Cieminski (1-1, 3.38 ERA) recorded his first collegiate save in the nightcap against Carleton on April 6. …
• PITCHING CAROUSEL: Saint Mary's used a single-game, program-record nine pitchers in its 11-10 win over Carleton on May 12. Four days later, SMU used seven pitchers — one in each inning — in its 6-1 loss to Augsburg last Sunday.
• BY THE NUMBERS: The Cardinals had seven players score two or more runs in their 17-5 MIAC Playoff win over Gustavus on May 21. Weinberg and Matthews each scored three times, while O'Brien, Anderson, Tepp, Costello, and Drake all scored twice. … Saint Mary's 18 hits against Aurora on Friday matched their season-high, matching the 18 hits against Carleton on April 12. … The Cardinals' 17 runs against Gustavus on May 20 were a season high — and the most scored in a game since plating 19 against Finlandia on March 1, 2017. Saint Mary's has now scored 10 or more runs in a game seven times this season. … Saint Mary's has played 15 games decided by two runs or less — including seven one-run contests. SMU is 6-1 in those seven one-run games. … Saint Mary's 8-7, 10-inning win over Concordia on April 17 is the Cardinals' first extra-inning game of the season. … Saint Mary's is 15-0 when holding its opponent to two runs or less — and 18-3 when scoring the game's first run. … SMU is 24-2 when leading after six innings, and 16-2 when leading heading into the eighth. … 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. |
• IN THE REGIONAL: The Blue Jays knocked off top-seeded Trinity 11-2 in their regional opener on Friday, before falling to Misericordia 11-4 on Saturday.
• HOW THEY GOT HERE: Johns Hopkins earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Regional tournament as the Centennial Conference champion. The Blue Jays are seeded sixth in the regional, after posting an 11-3 overall record in 2021.
• TOURNEY VETERANS: Johns Hopkins is making its 24th appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament, including the 23rd under the direction of head coach Bob Baab. The Blue Jays have claimed four regional titles in program history (1989, 2008, 2010, 2019).
• HITTING THEIR STRIDE: After opening the season 1-3, the Blue Jays have rattled off 11 wins in their last 12 games. Johns Hopkins had its 11-game winning streak snapped with Saturday's loss to Misericordia.
• AT THE PLATE: The Blue Jays are hitting .303 as a team, and have five players hwo have hitting above .300 — A.J. King (.415), Jared deFaria (.370), Matthew Ritchie (.350), Mark Lopez (.350), and Dai Dai Otaka (.317). … Johns Hopkins has amassed 171 hits in 16 games, including 23 doubles and 17 home runs.. The Blue Jays have not hit a triple this season.
• LEADER OF THE PACK: King owns a team-leading 22 hits, while also leading the team in RBIs (15). … deFaria leads the Blue Jays in slugging percentage (.611), and on-base percentage (.479). … Ingram leads the team with four home runs, one more than deFaria and Isaiah Winikur.
• RUN, RUN, FAST AS YOU CAN: The Blue Jays have scored 113 runs in 16 games, and have six players with at least 10 runs scored — King (17), Ingram (13), deFaria (13), Otaka (12), Ritchie (12), and Winkur (10).
• DRIVING THEM IN: King owns the team lead in RBIs with 15, followed by deFaria (14), Lopez (14), and Austin Sacks (13).
• ON THE MOUND: As a team, Johns Hopkins 2.50 ERA and opponents are hitting just .222 against them. … The Blue Jays have two pitchers — Peter Schaefer (49.0 IP) and Kieraen Collins (36.1 IP) who have accounted for 85.1 of the team's 140.2 innings pitched.
• DRAWING ACES: Schaefer (5-2, 1.65 ERA) leads the team with five wins, and he and Collins (4-1, 2.33 ERA) share the team lead in appearances with eight. Schaefer has made a team-leading eight starts and owns the team's lone complete game. … Jack McRae boasts a microscopic 0.57 ERA in 15.2 innings of work.
• SAVING THE DAY: Johns Hopkins' four saves have come from four different pitchers — Wyatt Copeland, Brian Linton, McRae, and Ben Keever.
• FANNING THE FLAMES: Schaefer has struck out 70 batters in his 49.0 innings of work, while Collins is second with 34 strikeouts.
• BY THE NUMBERS: The Blue Jays have scored 10 or more runs five times this season, including a season-high 15 runs in beating Gettysburg 15-5 on April 17. … All five of Johns Hopkins' 10+ run games have come in its last seven games. … The Blue Jays have been held to one run or less in three of their four losses — falling to Franklin & Marsh (2-1 and 7-0) and Dickinson (3-1).
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