SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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• 2022: 0-0 MIAC, 8-9 Overall

ST. SCHOLASTICA SAINTS

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2022: 0-0 MIAC, 5-7 Overall

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SMU v. CSS * LAST MEETING:

March 8, 2021 * Minneapolis, MN

W, 8-2 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S LAST ACTION:

March 29, 2022 * La Crosse, WI

UW-La Crosse * L, 6-1

ST. SCHOLASTICA LAST ACTION:

March 19, 2022 * Auburndale, FL

UW-Stevens Pt. * L, 8-5

SAINT MARY’S UP NEXT:

April 5, 2022 * Winona, MN

Augsburg * 2:30

ST. SCHOLASTICA UP NEXT:

April 5, 2022 * Duluth, MN

UW-Superior * 2:00

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference-opening doubleheader against St. Scholastica sitting at 8-9 overall.

• LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinals surrendered five runs — before coming up with their first hit — as UW-La Crosse dealt SMU a 6-1 nonconference setback in a nine-inning game Tuesday in La Crosse, Wis.

• ROAD WARRIORS: After 17 straight road games, the Cardinals kick off the home portion of their 2022 schedule against St. Scholastica. Beginning with the Saints, Saint Mary's, which went 14-8 at home a year ago, will play six straight games at Max Molock Field. 

• LEADING THE CHARGE: Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) leads the team with a .317 batting average, got 20-for-63, while fellow regulars Trevon VanEgtern (La Crosse, Wis.) and Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis.) and Trevon VanEgtern (La Crosse, Wis.) are also hitting above .300, sitting at .305 and .304, respectively. … As a team, the Cardinals are hitting .256 (138-for-539).

• ON THE RUN: The Cardinals have scored 95 runs in 17 games, with Merfeld and Weber leading the way, scoring 18 and 15 runs, respectively.

• HIT PARADE: The Cardinals have seven players who have recorded at least 10 hits this season, led by Weber with 20, and VanEgtern and Tyler O’Brien (Belle Plaine, Minn.) with 18 each. Ben Coons (Kimberly, Wis. / 16), Jack Arndt (Coon Rapids, Minn. / 14), Daniel Marxen (Maple Grove, Minn. / 14), and Merfeld (14) also own double-digit hit totals. … Weber, O’Brien, and Coons have all put together five multiple-hit games this season. … SMU has had five players record three hits in a game — including Arndt and O’Brien, who has done it a team-leading twice.

• EXTRA, EXTRA: Saint Mary’s has belted out 42 extra-base hits through 17 games, including 29 doubles, four triples, and nine home runs. … O’Brien leads the team in doubles with seven, followed by Merfeld with five, and Marxen and Weber with four each. … Weber leads the team with two triples, with O’Brien and Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) accounting for the other two.

• BOMBS AWAY: With their three home runs against Wheaton on March 21, the Cardinals pushed their home run total to nine. Marxen leads with way with three, one more than VanEgtern. Weber, Coons, Jake Mercado (Belle Plaine, Minn.), and Merfeld own the Cardinals’ other five round-trippers. Coons launched his first collegiate HR against Wheaton on March 21, becoming the sixth Cardinal to his career homer No. 1 this season. Mercado and Merfeld hit their first collegiate home runs in Game 1 of last SMU’s doubleheader against Wartburg on March 15, while Marxen, Weber, and VanEgtern all belted their first home runs in a Cardinal uniform during SMU’s eight-game spring trip.

• DRIVING ‘EM HOME: As a team, Saint Mary’s has driven in 84 runs through 17 games, led by Marxen with 14 and Arndt with 11. Weber, VanEgtern, and O’Brien have all driven in 10 runs. … Arndt delivered a career-high five RBIs in Saint Mary’s 9-7 win over Grove City on Feb. 28, while Marxen — who leads the team with four multiple-RBI games — drove in a career-best four runs in the Cardinals’ season-opening 14-10 win over Concordia the previous afternoon.

• STREAKING ALONG: Arndt and Coons both had their season-high eight-game hitting streaks snapped against Luther on March 12-13. O’Brien currently has the team’s longest active hitting streak at seven games. … O’Brien has reached base safely in 14 of the 16 games he’s played in this season. 

• ON THE MOUND: Saint Mary’s has used 12 different pitchers through its first 17 games — and boasts six hurlers who have logged more than 10 innings. Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) leads the SMU staff with 23 2/3 innings pitched, followed by Luke Gilbertson (Windom, Minn. / 23 1/3) and Jordan Zabel (Elgin, Minn. / 19 1/3 IP). … Hochevar (1-2, 5.32 ERA), Andrew Fischer (La Crosse, Wis. / 2-0, 7.56 ERA), Justin Haugo (Springfield, Minn. / 0-1, 3.52 ERA) and Dylan Westcott (Holmen, Wis. / 0-1, 6.00 ERA) have all made a team-leading five pitching appearances, while Hochevar leads the team with five starts, one more than Gilbertson (1-2, 5.40 ERA). 

• COMPLETING WHAT THEY STARTED: Gilbertson and Jordan Zabel (Elgin, Minn. / 1-3, 5.12 ERA) 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.

• PITCHING FIRSTS: Timmy 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. … Fischer set Wheaton down in order in the bottom of the seventh to preserve SMU’s 3-2 win and in his first save in a Cardinal uniform.

• SAVING THE DAY: Westcott worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning in the Cardinals’ 3-2, Game 2 win over Wartburg on March 15 to earn his third save. The sophomore right-hander has accounted for three of SMU’s four saves this season, with Fischer owning the other.

• FANNING THE FLAMES: The SMU pitching staff has struck out 114 batters through 17 games, led by Hochevar with 25, followed by Zabel (17), Gilbertson (16), Smith (15), Fischer (13), and Haugo (10). … Hochevar struck out a season-high eight batters in SMU’s 3-2 win over Wheaton on March 22.

• WALKING OFF: Saint Mary’s and Luther both claimed 7-6, walk-off victories in their nonconference doubleheader split on March 13. Luther got a two-run scoring double to cap a three-run seventh inning in winning the opener, while VanEgtern laced a run-scoring single in the bottom of the 11th to give Saint Mary’s the win in Game 2.

• THIS AND THAT: The Cardinals have scored six or more runs in six of their eight 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 seven of its nine losses. … Saint Mary’s has scored in the first inning in just two of its 17 games — plating three runs in its 14-10, season-opening win over Concordia on Feb. 17 and two vs. Wheaton on March 21. … 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.

• FOR THE RECORD: The Saints enter conference play with a 5-7 overall record.

• LAST TIME OUT: St. Scholastica has not played since March 19, when they dropped an 8-5 decision to UW-Stevens Point to close out its seven-game spring trip to Auburndale, Fla.

• MOTHER NATURE’S WRATH: Mother Nature has not been kind to the Saints, forcing the postponement of CSS’s last five scheduled contests due to inclement weather — not to mention the moving of its MIAC?DH?against Saint Mary’s from Duluth to Winona. 

• ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Saints' doubleheader at Saint Mary's marks the 13th and 14th straight road games for St. Scholastica, which will play its next three contests on its home diamond. CSS finished 12-2 at Wade Stadium in Duluth, Minn., a year ago.

• STREAKING ALONG: After opening the season with four straight losses, while losing five of their first six, St. Scholastica is 4-2 in its last six games, the four victories coming as part of a season-high four-game winning streak.

• AT THE PLATE: Jake Schelonka leads the Saints with a .413 batting average, going 19-for-46 in CSS’s 12 games. Schelonka is one of five Saints hitting above .200, being joined by Jack Tiemann (.382), Mitchell Olson (.341), Cody Venske (.333), and Matt Tautges (.324). … As a team, St. Scholastica is batting .290 (113-for-389).

• RUNNING WILD: The Saints boast three players who have scored 10 or more runs through 12 games — Schelonka (13), Tiemann (12), and Jack Harris (11) — while two others, Tautges and Mitchell Novak, have scored nine times. … St. Scholastica has had a player score three runs in a game six times this season.

• HIT PARADE: St. Scholastica has banged out 113 hits in 12 games this season, led by Schelonka with 19. Harris and Olson are both second with 14 hits, followed by Tiemann (13), Tautges (12), and Venske (10). … St. Scholastica has recorded 32 multiple-hit games, led by Schelonka and Olson with six each. … Schelonka has accounted for both of CSS’s four-hit games this season. 

• EXTRA, EXTRA: The Saints have amassed 31 extra-base hits this season, including 20 doubles, three triples and eight home runs. Schelonka, Harris, and Olson all share the team lead with three doubles, one more than Tiemann, Tautges, Venske, and Luke Schemenauer. … Novak has delivered two of the team’s three triples, with Schemenauer accounting for the other one.

• GOING DEEP: Harris has accounted for four of the Saints’ eight home runs, with Schelonka adding two round-trippers, and Tiemann and Zach Harding hitting the other two.

• DRIVING ‘EM IN: Harris owns a team-leading 13 RBIs, two more than Tiemann, with Schelonka sitting third on the team with nine. … Jack Harris has posted a season-high four of the team’s 12 multiple-RBI games. … Tiemann and Schelonka have each posted a four-RBI game this season.

• STREAKING ALONG: Olson enters the Saints’ matchup against Saint Mary’s riding a season-high seven-game hitting streak, while Schelonka and Schemenauer both have hit safely in CSS’s last six games. … Schelonka has reached base safely in each of St. Scholastica’s last eight games.

• ON THE MOUND: The Saints boast three pitchers who have logged 10 or more innings through their first 12 games. Dallas Miller (0-2, 5.93 ERA) leads the staff with 13 2/3 IP, with Schelonka (0-1, 2.84 ERA) and Grant Talval (0-2, 10.66 ERA) both having thrown 12 2/3 innings. … Wes Kemming (0-1, 0.96 ERA) has made a team-leading five appearances, one more than T.J. Martin (0-0, 6.14 ERA), Jack Perala (1-0, 8.68 ERA), and Chase Bredl (1-1, 11.57 ERA). … Schelonka, Miller and Talval lead the staff with three starts each.

• FANNING THE FLAMES: The Saints’ pitching staff has struck out 81 batters through 12 games, led by Schelonka with 12 and Miller with 10. Kemming and Grant Mergen (1-0, 3.00) are both third with nine strikeouts.

• BY THE NUMBERS: St. Scholastica has scored six or more runs in all five of its wins this season. The Saints have plated 10 or more runs twice — beating Knox, 13-1, and Ramapo, 15-8. … CSS has scored first in four of its 12 games this season, going 2-2 in those four contests. The Saints are 3-5 when their opponent scores first. … St. Scholastica has played one extra-inning game, beating Spalding 8-7 in 10 innings on March 15.