HEAD COACH: 

• Nick Winecke (15th season)

A YEAR AGO: 

• 10-10 MIAC (5th) | 18-19 Overall

RETURNERS TO WATCH:

• Trevon VanEgtern (Senior * Catcher | 35 GP, .344 BA, 125 AB, 19 R, 43 H, 8 2B, 4 HR, 24 RBIs, .504 slugging %, .368 on-base % … Posted career-high numbers in every offensive category in 2022. … Hit first four collegiate home runs in 2022. … Led the team with 11 multiple-hit games — including four three-hit efforts — and added five multiple-RBI games).

• Brandon Merfeld (Senior * Infield | 37 GP, .310 BA, 113 AB, 31 R, 35 H, 11 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 10 RBIs, .451 slugging %, .426 on-base %. … Posted single-season career-high in every offensive category in 2022. … Led team in runs scored with 31 in 2022. … Hit first career triple and first career HR in 2022).

• Cameron Weber (Junior * Infield | 37 GP, .291 BA, 127 AB, 31 R, 37 H, 8 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 13 RBIs, .409 slugging %, .415 on-base %. … Only Cardinal to start all 37 games in 2022. … Posted a career-high three hits in a game twice in 2022. … Hit his first collegiate HR and his first two triples in 2022).

• Addison Hochevar (Junior * Pitcher | 2-4, 4.09 ERA, 10 APP, 50.2 IP, 17 BB, 60 Ks … After being one of Cardinals’ top relievers in 2021, made team-high 10 starts in 2022. … Led SMU pitching staff in strikeouts (60) and was second in innings pitched (50.2). … Struck out a single-game, career-high nine batters twice in 2022).

• Andrew Fischer (Junior * Pitcher | 3-2, 4.65 ERA, 14 APP, 6 SV, 31.0 IP, 8 BB, 32 Ks … Recorded his first collegiate save against Wheaton on March 21 and finished the 2022 season with a team-leading six saves. … Tossed a career-high 6.2 innings vs. Rose-Hulman on March 3, 2022, and struck out a single-game, career-best six vs. Augsburg on April 21, 2022).

BY THE NUMBERS:

• 6: all-conference

• 2: Luke Gilbertson (Windom, Minn.) 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.

• 3: SMU had three players collect three hits in Game 2 against Bethel on April 13 and finished the year with seven players recording three hits in a game this season, led by Trevon VanEgtern (La Crosse, Wis.), who posted three-hit games four times.

• 4+: Saint Mary’s scored four or more runs in an inning eight times in 2022 — including a seven-run fourth inning against Hamline on April 19, and a season-high eight-run second inning in its 16-7 win over Rose-Hulman on March 3.

• 6+: The Cardinals scored six or more runs in 13 of their 18 wins last season — including a season-high 16-run showing in dropping Rose-Hulman 16-7 on March 3.

• 14: Andrew Fischer (La Crosse, Wis. / 3-2, 4.65 ERA) led the Cardinal pitching staff in appearances with 14, three more Justin Haugo (Springfield, Minn. / 1-2, 3.91 ERA) and Luke Gilbertson (Windom, Minn. / 2-4, 5.43 ERA), and four up on Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis. / 2-4, 4.09 ERA). Gilbertson and Hochevar, meanwhile, shared the staff lead with 10 starts in 2022.

• 181: The Cardinals scored 181 runs in 37 games in 2022, with Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis.) and Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) sharing the team lead with 31 runs scored each. 

DID YOU KNOW?

• The Cardinals closed out the season with 15 home run — with all seven home run hitters belting their first collegiate HRs in 2022. Trevon VanEgtern (La Crosse, Wis.) and Daniel Marxen (Maple Grove, Minn.) led the team with four HRs each, two in front of Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) and Jake Mercado (Belle Plaine, Minn.). Ben Coons (Kimberly, Wis.), Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.), and Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis.) owned the Cardinals’ other three round-trippers. 

DID YOU KNOW, PART II?

• Saint Mary’s had two games in 2022 — vs. Rose-Hulman on March 3 and vs. Carleton on May 8 — in which five Cardinals were hit by a pitch. Individual, SMU had a player hit by a pitch twice in a game five times last season.

DID YOU KNOW, PART III?

• Cardinal pitchers recorded 11 saves among Saint Mary’s 18 wins. Andrew Fischer (La Crosse, Wis.) closed out 2022 as team’s saves leader with six, one more than Dylan Westcott (Holmen, Wis.), while Justin Haugo (Springfield, Minn.) ended the year with a pair of saves.

THIS AND THAT:

• LEADING THE CHARGE: Trevon VanEgtern (La Crosse, Wis.) closed out the season as the team’s batting leader, boasting a .344 average, going 43-for-125. … Brandon Merfeld (La Crosse, Wis.) also hit above .300, sitting at .310, while Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis.) was third on the team with a .291 batting average. … As a team, the Cardinals closed out the year hitting .257 (297-for-1155).

• ON THE RUN: Merfeld and Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) each scored a career-high four runs in a game a year ago — Merfeld’s coming against Rose-Hulman on March 3, while Coyle achieved the feat against Carleton on May 8.

• HIT PARADE: The Cardinals closed out the year with six players recording at least 20 hits, led by VanEgtern with 43 and Weber with 37. Merfeld was third with 35 hits, followed by Marxen with 32 and O’Brien with 30, while Coons (28), Bauman (23), and Coyle (21) also reached the 20-hit plateau.

• EXTRA, EXTRA: Saint Mary’s belted out 85 extra-base hits in 37 games, including 65 doubles, five triples, and 15 home runs. … Merfeld led the team with 11 doubles, followed by O’Brien with nine, and VanEgtern, Marxen, and Weber with eight each. … O’Brien delivered a single-game, career-high three doubles against Luther on March 13. … SMU’s five triples came from four different players. Weber owns two, and Merfeld, O’Brien, and Coyle have accounted for the other three.

• DRIVING ‘EM HOME: As a team, Saint Mary’s closed out the year with 157 RBIs in 37 games, led by Marxen with 29, followed by VanEgtern with 24 and O’Brien with 19. Weber (13), Coons (12), Coyle (11), Jack Arndt (Coon Rapids, Minn. / 11), and Merfeld (10) also recorded 10 or more RBIs. … 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 eight multiple-RBI games — drove in a career-best four runs in a game twice. 

• STREAKING ALONG: Arndt, O’Brien, and Coons all put together season-high eight-game hitting streaks in 2022, while Merfeld and VanEgtern closed out the year with the team’s longest active streaks at five games each.

• ON THE MOUND: Saint Mary’s used 12 different pitchers in 37 games — and boasted seven hurlers who logged more than 20 innings. Luke Gilbertson (Windom, Minn.) led the Cardinal staff with 58.0 innings pitched, followed closely by Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis.) and Jordan Zabel (Elgin, Minn.) and with 50 2/3 IP and 45 1/3 IP, respectively.

• PITCHING FIRSTS: Timmy Smith (South St. Paul, Minn.) picked up his first collegiate pitching win and Dylan Westcott (Holmen, Wis.) 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. … Keegan Majerus (Pine Island, Min.) recorded his first win in a Cardinal uniform, going 3 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits in a 9-7 win over Grove City on Feb. 28. … 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. … Haugo notched his first career save in SMU’s Game 2 win over Hamline on April 19, blanking the Pipers on three hits over the final four innings of the nine-inning contest.

• FANNING THE FLAMES: The SMU pitching staff struck out 240 batters in 37 games, led by Hochevar with 60, followed by Gilbertson (33), Zabel (33), Fischer (32), Smith (21), and Haugo (20). … Hochevar struck out a career-high nine batters twice — against Macalester on April 16 and at Concordia on May 4. In his last four starts, Hochevar struck out nine, seven, seven, and nine batters.

• 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. … Concordia’s two wins over Saint Mary’s on May 4 were both walk-offs — scoring the game-tying run in the seventh inning of both games, and delivering RBI singles in the eighth and 12th innings.

• WORKING OVERTIME: Saint Mary’s played five extra-inning games— beating Luther 7-6 in 11 innings on March 13 and topping St. Olaf 5-4 in 10 innings on April 9, before dropping a 2-1, eight-inning decision to Macalester on April 16, and falling in eight and 12 innings against Concordia on May 4. … SMU’s five extra-inning games are the most since 2018, when the Cardinals also played fie extra-inning contests. … The Cardinals’ 3-2, 12-inning loss to Concordia on May 4 was their longest game since falling to Wartburg 7-6 in 13 innings on Feb. 28, 2017.

• THIS AND THAT: Saint Mary’s was been held to five runs or less in 17 of its 19 losses, including going 0-12 when limiting to less than three runs. … The Cardinals finished the year 11-6 in games decided by two runs or less — 5-5 in one-run games and 6-1 in two-run contests. … Saint Mary’s scored in the first inning in 10 of its 37 games — going 8-2. … SMU was 15-4 when leading after six innings, but only 3-15 when tied or trailing heading into the seventh frame.