| The Cardinals — sitting at 15-7 in the MIAC and 21-10 overall — enter their conference doubleheader against Bethel riding a three-game winning streak, including a 9-4, 8-1 sweep of Hamline on April 29. SMU has outscored its opponents 28-5 during its current three-game run. … Will Matthews (Geneva, Ill.) went 5-for-8 with three doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored against Hamline last Thursday. Joey Costello (Victoria, Minn.), Justin Weinberg (Eagan, Minn.), and Tyler O'Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn.) all chipped in three hits in the DH sweep of the Pipers. … O'Brien scored four times vs. HU, with Matthews, Zach Drake (Westby, Wis.), and Taylor Anderson (Waukesha, Wis.) all scored three times. … Matthews is hitting a team-leading .370 among regulars with 80 or more at-bats, while Weinberg and Anderson are also hitting above .300, sitting at .346 and .310, respectively. … Matthews also leads or shares the team lead in hits (37), doubles (13), RBIs (24), total bases (53), and slugging percentage (.530). … Weinberg is the team-leader in both at-bats (107) and runs (28). … Anderson has induced a team-best 18 walks. … Matthews boasts a team-best 12 multiple-hit games this season, one more than Weinberg, whose four-hit showing against St. Olaf on April 26 was the Cardinals' first four-hit game of the season. … Andy Tepp (Stevens Point, Wis.) leads the team with seven multiple-RBI games. … Tepp was held hitless in Game 2 against Hamline last Thursday, snapping his career-high nine-game hitting streak. Tepp's nine-game streak was the longest by a Cardinal this year. … Matthews and Liam Belleveau (Middleton, Wis.) hit home runs in the Cardinals' 11-1 win over Concordia on April 17. It was Matthews' fourth of his career, while Belleveau's was his first. Belleveau becomes the third Cardinal to hit collegiate HR No. 1, joining O'Brien and Jack Arndt (Coon Rapids, Minn.), who each 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. … O'Brien recorded his first collegiate three-hit game against Concordia on April 17. … 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. … Trevon VanEgtern (La Crosse, Wis.) drove in a career-high four runs in SMU's 14-6, Game 2 loss to the Oles on April 24 … Saint Mary's stole 15 bases in its DH against Macalester on April 22, including four by Drake. For the season, the Cardinals have stolen 63 bases on 71 attempts — sitting just five steals shy of the program-record 68, set in 1990. … After never throwing more than eight innings in his collegiate career, Luke Gilbertson (Windom, Minn.) tossed his second straight nine-inning complete game in beating Hamline 8-1 in Game 2 last Thursday. Gilbertson allowed one run on three hits, while striking out five and walking three. … Gilbertson notched a complete-game, six-hit shutout in Game 2 against Macalester on April 22 for his first collegiate game, and first collegiate shutout. … Ryan Wolfe (Wabasha, Minn. / 5-3, 4.35 ERA) — who picked up his fifth win in his first relief appearance in SMU's 9-4 Game 1 win over Hamline last Thursday — has thrown a team-leading 39.1 innings to pace the Cardinal pitching staff, while sharing the team lead in wins with Gilbertson (5-0, 2.13 ERA). … 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. / 1-1, 2.70 ERA) 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. / 3-1, 2.19 ERA) earned his first win as a Cardinal against Augsburg on March 16, and notched his first collegiate save against Hamline last Thursday. … Jordan Zabel (Elgin, Minn. / 2.2, 5.28 ERA) collected his first collegiate pitching win against Gustavus on March 26. … Jonathan Cieminski (Fountain City, Wis. / 0-0, 4.08 ERA) 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 has played 10 games decided by two runs or less — including six one-run contests. SMU is 5-1 in one-run games, with its 3-2 decision against SJU on April 15 being the only loss. … Saint Mary's 8-7, 10-inning win over Concordia on April 17 was the Cardinals' first extra-inning game of the season. … The Cardinals' 11 runs in their 11-0 victory over St. Olaf Monday equaled their season-high and marked the fourth time this season SMU has plated 10 or more runs. … Saint Mary's is 11-0 when holding its opponent to two runs or less. … 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. |
The Royals head into Thursday's doubleheader against Saint Mary's having taken two out of three from Concordia to improve to 12-10 in conference play as part of an 18-14 overall record. … The Royals erupted for 40 runs in their three games against Concordia — including 24 in the series-opening 24-2 win last Saturday, and 11 more in Monday's 11-2 victory. In between those two wins, BU dropped a 12-4 decision. … Justin Winterfeldt hit two home runs and drove in four runs in the Royals' 11-2 win over the Cobbers on Monday, while Nick Wibben and Ty Koehn also had multiple-hit games. … Caleb Brandt enters BU's DH against Saint Mary's hitting a team-leading .327, with Marcus Krupke and Thomas Friesen also hitting above .300, coming in at .313 and .309, respectively. … Along with his team-leading .327 batting average, Brandt also leads the Royals in at-bats (101), runs (25), hits (33), total bases (45), and slugging percentage (.446). … Keenan Hodgkin has slugged a team-high seven doubles, one more than Wibben and James Woeffel, while Koehn and Wibben have each hit two of the Royals' 11 triples. … Winterfeldt's two home runs against CC Monday pushed his team=leading total to four, one more than Woeffel. … Bethel boasts eight players with 10 or more RBIs through 32 games, led by Joey Fredrickson with 19 and Woeffel with 18. … Krupke (6-2, 3.77 ERA) and Matthew Bohlke (5-1, 2.91 ERA) have been the workhorses of the Royals' pitching staff, tossing 57.1 and 52.2 innings, respectively. … Krupke owns all three of BU's complete games, while Bohlke has started a staff-leading 10 games and leads the Royals with 68 strikeouts. … Blake Williams (1-2, 3.86 ERA) leads the team in appearances (13) and saves (3). … Bethel has scored 10 or more runs four times — including its season-high 24-run effort in beating Concordia 24-2 last Saturday. … BU's 5-2 win over St. Olaf on April 28 snapped its season-high six game losing streak.
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