SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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• 2022: 5-6 Overall

WARTBURG KNIGHTS

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2022: 5-5 Overall

Live Stats * Streaming Video

LAST MEETING:

Feb. 27, 2017

W, 4-3; L, 7-6 (13)

Series History

SAINT MARY’S LAST ACTION:

March 12-13, 2022 * Luther

L, 5-0 * L, 7-6 * W, 7-6 (11)

WARTBURG LAST ACTION:

March 13, 2022 * Gustavus

L, 13-4 * L, 11-6

SAINT MARY’S UP NEXT:

March 18-19, 2022 * Wheaton, IL

Aurora * Luther, Wartburg

March 20, 2022 * Naperville, IL

North Central (IL)

WARTBURG UP NEXT:

March 19-20, 2022

St. Olaf * Waverly, IA

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their nonconference doubleheader against Wartburg sitting at 5-6 overall. SMU went 4-4 during its season-opening eight-game spring trip, before going 1-2 in its three-game set against Luther last weekend.

• LAST TIME OUT: Luther took the first two games of its three-game, nonconference series against Saint Mary’s last weekend in Sioux City, Iowa, winning 5-0 and 7-6, before Saint Mary’s gained a 7-6, 11-inning victory in the final game of the series.

• WALKING OFF: Saint Mary’s and Luther both claimed 7-6, walk-off victories in last Sunday’s doubleheader. Luther got a two-run scoring double to cap a three-run seventh inning in winning the opener, while Trevon VanEgtern (La Crosse, Wis.) laced a run-scoring single in the bottom of the 11th to give Saint Mary’s the win in Game 2.

• ROAD WARRIORS: The Cardinals are in the midst of playing their first 22 games of the 2022 season on the road. Saint Mary’s — which played six road contests this week — does not play its first home contest until April 5, when they welcome Augsburg to Max Molock Field for a 2:30 p.m. conference doubleheader.

• LEADING THE CHARGE: Jack Arndt (Coon Rapids, Minn.) — one of three players to start all 11 games this season — owns a team-leading .333 batting average, going 14-for-42 with a pair of doubles. … Ben Coons (Kimberly, Wis. / .325), Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis. / .308), and Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis. / .302) are also hitting above .300.

• EXTRA, EXTRA: Saint Mary’s has belted out 26 extra-base hits through 11 games, including 19 doubles, three triples, and four home runs. …  Tyler O’Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn.) leads the team in doubles with five, followed by Weber, Merfeld, and Daniel Marxen (Maple Grove, Minn.) with three apiece. … Weber, O’Brien, and Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) own the team’s three triples.

• BOMBS AWAY: Marxen launched his team-leading second home run against Luther last Sunday. Weber and VanEgtern own the other two. Marxen, Weber, and VanEgtern all hit their first collegiate home runs during the Cardinals’ eight-game spring trip. … 

• DRIVING ‘EM HOME: As a team, Saint Mary’s has driven in 66 runs through 11 games, led by Marxen with 12 and Arndt with 11. … Arndt delivered a career-high five RBIs in Saint Mary’s 9-7 win over Grove City on Feb. 28, while Marxen drove in a career-best four runs in the Cardinals’ season-opening 14-10 win over Concordia the previous afternoon.

• RUNNING HOME: Merfeld has scored a team-leading 14 runs — including a single-game career-high four runs scored against Rose Hulman on March 3 — with Weber sitting second on the team with 12 runs scored.

• RACKING ‘EM UP: Saint Mary’s has compiled 23 multiple-hit games, led by Coons with four. SMU has had five players record three hits in a game — including Arndt and O’Brien, who has done it a team-leading twice. … Marxen leads the Cardinals with four multiple-RBI games with four, one more than Arndt. Marxen and Arndt are two of four players who have driven in two or more runs in a game this season — O’Brien and Weber are the other two.

• STREAKING ALONG: Arndt and Coons both had their season-high eight-game hitting streaks snapped against Luther last weekend. Arndt has had at least one hit in nine of the team’s 11 games, while Coons has collected at least one hit in nine of the 10 games he’s played.

• ON THE MOUND: Saint Mary’s has used 12 different pitchers through its first 11 games, with Dylan Westcott (Holmen, Wis.) leading the way with four appearances, one more than Justin Haugo (Springfield, Minn.) and Timmy Smith (South St. Paul, Minn.). … Luke Gilbertson (Windom, Minn.) has logged a team-high 17.0 innings, followed by Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) with 13 2/3 and Smith with 12.0. … Smith (2-0, 4.50 ERA), Gilbertson (1-1, 5.29 ERA), Andrew Fischer (La Crosse, Wis. / 1-0, 12.46 ERA), and Keegan Majerus (Pine Island, Minn. / 1-0, 0.00 ERA) own SMU’s five pitching wins.

• COMPLETING WHAT THEY STARTED: Gilbertson and Jordan Zabel (Elgin, Minn.) tossed back-to-back complete games in SMU’s spring trip-ending split against Northwestern on March 5. Gilbertson allowed four runs on seven hits in a 6-4 win, while Zabel surrendered five runs on six hits in suffering the 5-1, Game 2 loss. The complete game was the first of Zabel’s career, while Gilbertson owns four career complete games.

• THE WIN, AND THE SAVE: Smith picked up his first collegiate pitching win and Westcott earned his first save as a Cardinal in SMU’s 14-10 win over Concordia on Feb. 27. Smith allowed three runs – only one of which was earned — on five hits in four innings of relief, while Wescott worked a scoreless ninth. Westcott picked up save No. 2 the following day, working a one-run ninth in SMU’s 9-7 win over Grove City.

• FANNING THE FLAMES: Smith and Hochevar share the team lead with 13 strikeouts, one more than Gilbertson. The trio have accounted for 38 of the staff’s 76 strikeouts.

• THIS AND THAT: The Cardinals have scored six or more runs in all five of their wins — including a season-high 16-run showing in dropping Rose-Hulman 16-7 on March 3. On the flip side, Saint Mary’s has been held to five runs or less in four of its six losses. … Saint Mary’s has scored in the first inning in just one of its 11 games — plating three runs in its 14-10, season-opening win over Concordia on Feb. 17. … Saint Mary’s has scored four or more runs in an inning five times — posting five, four-run innings, as well as a season-high eight-run second inning in its 16-7 win over Rose-Hulman on March 3. … Saint Mary’s 7-6, 11-inning win over Luther last Sunday was its first extra-inning game of the season. … 

?• A YEAR TO REMEMBER: The Cardinals captured their first-ever MIAC Playoff title — beating St. Thomas 6-3 in the championship game. … Saint Mary’s made its first NCAA National Tournament appearance in 28 years, opening with a 15-13 win over Aurora, before falling to both Northwestern (Minn.) 3-1 and Johns Hopkins 7-2.

• A LONG TIME COMING: Saint Mary’s appearance in the NCAA Regional last season marked the first time since 1993. 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.

• MAKING HISTORY: The Cardinals’ win over Aurora in their NCAA Regional opener on May 28 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 won 20 or more games five times under current head coach Nick Winecke. … Speaking of records, the Cardinals also stole a program-record 88 bases in 2021, while breaking the single-season school record for games played with 46. … Individually, Will Matthews surpassed Willie Doll ’16 for the single-season record in doubles (18) and O’Brien shattered the program marked for times hit by a pitch with 17. 

• FOR THE RECORD: The Knights enter their nonconference doubleheader against Saint Mary’s sitting at 5-5 overall, including back-to-back losses to Gustavus last Sunday.

• LAST TIME OUT: Gustavus erupted for a combined 24 runs in sweeping its nonconference twinbill against Wartburg, beating the Knights 13-4 in the opener and completing the sweep with an 11-6 win in the nightcap.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Wartburg’s two games against Saint Mary’s are the first of 10 straight home games for the Knights, who will host St. Olaf for three games, Martin Luther for two, and Coe for three more, before finally hitting the road again on March 29 to take on Luther.

• STREAK-SNAPPER: The Knights’ 14-1 win over Waynesburg on Feb.28 snapped their 11-game losing streak. Wartburg ended the 2021 season on a nine-game slide, and dropped its first two games of the 2-22 season to MSOE, before beating Waynesburg. … Waynesburg beat the Knights 4-2 in the teams’ rematch five days later, ending Wartburg’s five-game win streak — and sparking Wartburg’s current three-game losing streak.

• AT THE PLATE: Zach Walton comes into Wartburg’s matchup against Saint Mary’s leading the team with a .400 batting average. Walton has gone 10-for-25 with two doubles, a triple, and a home run in 10 games. … Caleb Andrews (.382), Zach Wesolowski (.355), Eliot Jurgenson (.333), and Max Goodhue (.300) are also batting at or above .300 this season.

• HIT PARADE: Wartburg boasts five players with 10 or more hits through 10 games, led by Andrews with 13. Jurgensen and Goodhue both own 12 hits followed by Wesolowski with 11 and Walton with 10. … Wesolowski posted a season-high four hits against Saint Vincent March 1. … Andrews leads the team with four multiple-hit games, with five other Knights owning three multiple-hit games.

• EXTRA, EXTRA: The Knights own 31 extra-base hits through 10 games, including 22 doubles, five triple, and four home runs. … Goodhue shares the team lead in doubles (4) with Wesolowski, while also leading the team with two triples.

• GOING DEEP: Wartburg’s four home runs this season have come from four different players — Wesolowski, Walton, Ben DeKruyf, and Keaton Gray. Walton, Wesolowski, and Gray all hit round-trippers against Waynesburg on Feb. 28, while DeKruyf added a bomb against MSOE on March 3 

• DRIVING ‘EM IN: Walton has amassed a team-high 15 RBIs, followed closely by Goodhue (11) and Wesolowski (10). … Goodhue leads the team with four multiple-RBI games, followed by Walton with three — including a team- and season-best six-RBI effort against Saint Vincent on March 1.

• STREAKING ALONG: Goodhue and Andrews both enter Wartburg’s doubleheader against Saint Mary’s riding eight-game hitting streaks. Gray, Wesolowski, Walton and DeKruyf all put together five-game hit streaks this season. … After being held off the base paths in Wartburg’s season-opener against XXX, Goodhue has reached base safely in each of the Knights’ last nine games.

• ON THE MOUND: Dylan Gotto has logged a team-high 17.0 innings, going 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA in three starts. Darren Kilpatrick (1-2, 6.59 ERA) has thrown 13 2/3 innings in three starts, with Dreyton LaVeine (1-0, 0.90 ERA) sitting third on the staff with 10.0 innings in two appearances.

• FOR THE WIN: Wartburg’s five pitching wins have come from five different pitchers — Gotto, Darren Kilpatrick, LaVeine, Will Armstrong, and Joey Ciero. … Gotto and LaVeine have each tossed a complete game this season — Gotto a 10-strikeout showing against MSOE on Feb. 27 and LaVeine a one-hit shutout against Saint Vincent on March 1.

• FANNING THE FLAMES: As a staff, Wartburg has amassed 83 strikeouts, led by Gotto with 23 and Kilpatrick with 20. LaVeine (11) and Ciero (10) have also struck out 10 or more batters this season.

• AS A TEAM: The Knights are hitting .281 (86-for-306) with 73 runs scored. … Wartburg has plated 10 or more runs in four of its five wins — beating Waynesburg 14-1, Saint Vincent 13-0, MSOE 11-4, and Gordon 15-2. The Knights’ other win was a 7-2 victory in Game 2 against Gordon. On the flip side, Wartburg has been held to two runs or less in three of its five losses.