The Saint Mary’s baseball team returns to conference play on Saturday, as the Cardinals welcome Hamline to Max Molock Field for a 1 p.m. MIAC doubleheader.

SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2024: 0-0 MIAC, 7-7 Overall

HAMLINE PIPERS

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2024: 0-0 MIAC, 7-11 Overall

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SMU-HAMLINE * LAST MEETING:

May 2, 2023 * St. Paul, MN

W, 14-2; W, 10-0 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

March 28, 2024 * Winona, MN

UW-Superior * W, 7-0

HAMLINE * LAST ACTION:

March 23, 2024 * Pella, IA

Central-Iowa * L, 10-3; L, 9-7

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

April 3, 2024 * Northfield, MN

Carleton * 2:30/5:00

HAMLINE * UP NEXT: 

April 3, 2024 * St. Paul, MN

Macalester * 2:30/5:00

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference-opening doubleheader against Hamline sitting at 7-7 through the first 14 games of the season.

• LAST TIME OUT: Brinton Anderson (Pulaski, Wis.) went 3-for-3, Mason Coyle (Madison, Wis.) delivered two hits, two runs and two RBIs, and three SMU pitchers tossed a nine-inning shutout, as the Cardinals got back on the winning track with a 7-0 nonconference win over UW-Superior Thursday at Max Molock Field.

• GETTING SOME (VERY) EARLY SWINGS: SMU’s season-opener against Bethany Lutheran on Feb. 25 and its game against Luther the followed day marked the earliest games played on Max Molock Field in program history. Saint Mary’s has never played a game in February on its home field.

• SWEEPING UP: The Cardinals have played two doubleheaders this season, sweeping both. SMU posted 5-2, 10-5 wins over Illinois College to kick off their spring trip on March 3 and closed out their eight-game stay in Davenport, Fla., with 4-2, 11-3 wins over Saint Joseph’s six days later.

• STREAK-SNAPPER; SMU’s 7-0 win over UW-Superior on Thursday snapped the Cardinals’ season-high three-game losing streak.

• AT THE PLATE: Fueled by his 3-for-3 showing against UW-Superior on Thursday, Brinton Anderson (Pulaski, Wis.) pushed his batting average to a team-leading .400. Anderson is one of four SMU players boasting averages above .300, being joined by Ryan Csida (Kimberly, Wis. / .367), Daniel Sherman (Richfield, Minn. / .333), and Cameron Weber (Holmen, Wis. / .327).

• ON THE RUN: The Cardinals have scored 76 runs through their first 14 games this season …. Csida and Coyle share the team lead with 11 runs scored, followed by Weber and Riley Bauman with 10. … Miller, Coyle, and Riley Bauman have all scored a single-game season-high three times this season. … Weber and Riley Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) each scored a single-game season- and career-high four runs in 2023 — Weber against Bethany Lutheran on April 30 and Bauman vs. Hamline on May 2.

• HIT PARADE: Csida has amassed a team-high 18 hits, two more than Weber, with Riley Bauman (14), Sherman (14), and Coyle (10) also reaching double figures in hits this season … Csida has put together a team-leading six multiple-hit games, while Riley Bauman delivered a single-game season-high four hits against Dominican on March 4. … Weber posted a single-game career-high five hits against Bethany Lutheran on April 30, 2023. The five-hit game marked the only time SMU had a player record more than three hits in a game in 2023.

• EXTRA, EXTRA: Twenty-eight of the Cardinals’ 115 hits this season have been for extra bases, including 19 doubles, five triples, and four home runs. … Csida, Sherman, and Stephen Golden (Centerville, Minn.) share the team lead with three doubles one more than Riley Bauman, Coyle, and Anderson. … Riley Bauman has hit two of SMU’s five triples, with Csida, Sherman, and Coyle having clubbed SMU’s other three three-baggers.

• BOMBS AWAY: SMU’s four home runs this season have come from four different players — Riley Bauman, Csida, Coyle and Will Boeckman (Big Lake, Minn.). … Boeckman belted SMU’s first home run of the season, a two-run shot against Bethany Lutheran on Feb. 25. … Csida launched his first collegiate HR — a lead-off shot — against Benedictine on March 8. … Saint Mary’s hit 11 home runs in 2023, led Riley Bauman with five.

• DRIVING ‘EM IN: Weber and Csida share the team lead in RBIs with nine, one more than Coyle and four up on Sherman, Anderson, Riley Bauman, and Will Boeckman (Big Lake, Minn.). … Sherman accounted for all four RBIs in SMU’s 4-2 win over Saint Joseph’s on March 9, while Alex Hanneman (Appleton, Wis.) delivered a career-high three RBIs in the SMU baseball team’s loss to Dominican on March 4.

• OUCH: The Cardinals, who were hit by a pitch 32 times in 35 games in 2023, have already been plunked 18 this season — with Csida getting hit a team-high four times

• CATCH ME IF YOU CAN: Saint Mary’s is 33-for-39 in stolen base attempts this season, with Weber a perfect 11-for-11, followed by Riley Bauman (7-for-7), Csida (5-for-5), and Coyle (4-for-5). … SMU swiped 10 bases in its doubleheader sweep of Saint Joseph’s on March 9 — including six in Game 1. … Riley Bauman and Weber have each stolen a season-high three bases in a game this season — Bauman against Dominican on March 4 and Weber vs. Saint Joseph’s on March 9. 

• STREAKING: Csida owns the team’s longest active hitting streak at eight straight — and has reached base safely in all 14 games. … Weber closed out the 2023 season riding a 15-game hitting streak, and picked up at least one hit in each of SMU’s first four games this season, before going 0-for-6 against Dominican on March 4.

• ON THE MOUND: Saint Mary’s has used 14 different pitchers this season, with Eric Stomberg (St. Paul, Minn. / 3-1, 3.42 ERA) leading the team, logging 23 2/3 innings. Andrew Fischer (La Crosse, Wis. / 1-2, 4.74 ERA) is second with 19 IP, followed by Addison Hochevar (Lake Geneva, Wis. / 0-3, 6.14 ERA, 14 2/3 IP), and Dylan Westcott (Holmen, Wis. / 1-0, 3.60 ERA, 10.0 IP). … Stomberg, Fischer, and Westcott have all made a team-leading five appearances. … Fischer collected his third career complete game with a five-hitter in SMU’s 4-2 win over Saint Joseph’s on March 9. … Westcott owns SMU’s lone save this season. 

• FANNING THE FLAMES: The SMU pitching staff has combined to strike out 79 batters in 14 games this season, led by Stomberg and Fischer with 20 strikeouts each. … SMU pitchers struck out 187 batters in 35 games a year ago, led by Hochevar with 52. …Hochevar fanned a career-high 10 batters in a 1-0 loss to Franklin.

• REACHING 100: Weber and Hochevar each reached the career century mark in 2023. Weber owns 117 career games played and 118 hits, while Hochevar boasts 151 career strikeouts.

• COMEBACK KIDS: The Cardinals put together three, five-run innings to beat Illinois Chicago (twice) and Marian during their eight-game spring trip. SMU scored five runs in the fifth inning of 5-2 and 10-5 wins over Illinois Chicago on March 3, before racking up five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning of a 7-6, walk-off win over Marian two days later.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: As a team, the Cardinals are hitting .271 (115-for-425), including 28 extra-base hits, while scoring 76 runs and boasting 62 RBIs. SMU’s pitching staff, meanwhile, boasts a 6.24 ERA. … Saint Mary’s has scored at least three runs in all 14 games this season — including 10+ runs twice in wins over Illinois College (10-5) and Saint Joseph’s (11-3). On the flip side, SMU has surrendered 10 or more runs four times this season, going 0-4 in those four contests. … The Cardinals are 6-0 when holding their opponent to less than six runs, and are 5-0 when leading after the sixth inning.

HAMLINE SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Pipers head into their road conference-opening doubleheader at Saint Mary’s owning a 7-11 overall record.

• LAST TIME OUT: Hamline dropped a pair of nonconference games last weekend in Pella, Iowa, falling to Central-Iowa 10-3 and 9-7, with the third game of the series canceled due to weather.

• ROAD TRIPPING: With Saturday’s two games at Saint Mary’s, the Pipers will have opened the season with 13 straight road games. Hamline, which will kick off the home portion of its schedule against Macalester on Wednesday, has a 1-4 mark in traditional road games, while sitting a 6-7 in neutral-site contests. 

• LIMPING IN: With their losses to Wesleyan (13-9) and Central-Iowa (10-3, 9-7) in its last three contests, Hamline heads into its DH against Saint Mary’s mired in its second three-game losing streak of the season. The Pipers, who dropped back-to-back-to-back games to Claremont-Mudd Scripps (9-3), Southwest Minnesota State (10-4), and Crown (13-12) in its first three-game slide from March 10-12, has gone 2-7 in its last nine contests.

• LEADING THE CHARGE: Hamline boasts six players who are hitting above .300 through the season’s first 18 games, led by Tyler Johnson’s team-best .397 batting average. Caden Erickson (.352), Max Gerstner (.338), Mac Enlow (.333), Nick Zezuika (.310), and Jack Rheineck (.305) are also sporting batting averages north of .300.

• ON THE RUN: Gerstner, Erickson, and Johnson have all scored more than 20 runs through 17 games. Gerstner leads the way with 25 runs scored, one more than Erickson and two in front of Johnson. … HU has gotten at least one run scored from 18 of the 21 players who have seen action. … Johnson scored a season-high five times in HU’s 20-6 win over Martin Luther on Feb. 24.

• HIT PARADE: Johnson has amassed a team-leading 29 hits in 73 at-bats and is one of eight Pipers to have reached double figures in hits, being joined by Gerstner (25), Erickson (25), Braeden Bourne (19), Rheineck (18), Enlow (18), Jacob Barmore (15), and Cade McGraw (10). … Johnson and Gerstner share the team lead with nine multiple-hit games. … Johnson and Erickson have both collected five hits in a game, with both efforts coming against Martin Luther — Johnson on Feb. 24 and Erickson on Feb. 23.

• EXTRA, EXTRA: Forty-three of HU’s 191 hits have been for extra bases, including 32 doubles, three triples, and eight home runs. … Johnson has accounted for 10 of the team’s 32 two-baggers, followed by Gerstner with six, while Erickson, Colin Schuetz, and Kyle Vanek own the team’s three triples. … Johnson and Erickson have both delivered three doubles in a game this season.

• BOMBS AWAY: Johnson has been a home run-hitting machine this season, clubbing five round-trippers, with Gerstner, Enlow, and Finn Melchior each owning one HR.

• DRIVING ‘EM HOME: Fueled by his team-leading 29 hits, 10 doubles, and five home runs, Johnson also sits atop the team lead with 33 RBIs. Gerstner is second on the team with 21, followed by Enlow with 18 and Erickson with 14. … Johnson — who owns a team-best eight multiple-RBI games — has driven in five or more runs in a game twice, including posting a season-high six RBIs against Crown on March 12.

• CATCH ME IF YOU CAN: The Pipers have stolen 67 bases on 77 attempts this season, led by Gerstner and Bourne, who both own 14 steals in 16 tries. Johnson, meanwhile, is a perfect 11-for-11 and Erickson has added nine steals in 10 attempts.

• STREAKING ALONG: Enlow owns the Pipers’ longest hitting streak of the season at eight games, but Gerstner’s six-gamer is HU’s longest active hit streak. … Hamline has had four players reach base safely in 10 or more straight games, with Erickson have reached in each of HU’s last 11 games — the Pipers’ longest active streak.

• ON THE MOUND: Hamline has used 12 different pitchers through 18 games, including three who have logged more than 20 innings. Parker Leipzig (1-2, 2.15 ERA) leads the staff with 23 2/3 IP, with Conor Mestemacher (1-3, 8.22 ERA, 23.0 IP) and Dalton Maxwell (1-1, 9.14 ERA, 21 2/3 IP) also throwing 20+ innings thus far this season. … Leipzig and Mestemacher have both made a team-high six starts, while Maxwell and Hans Christensen (1-1, 10.80 ERA, 16 2/3 IP) each making a team-leading eight appearance. … Christensen has accounted for two of the team’s three saves, with Josh Cary (1-1, 2.87 ERA, 15 2/3 IP) recording the other.

• FANNING THE FLAMES: Hamline hurlers have strikeout a combined 141 batters. Cary leads the way with 25 strikeouts, two more than Christensen, with Maxwell (19), Mestemacher (18), and Leipzig (14) close behind.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: As a team, Hamline is batting .303, going 191-for-631, with 32 doubles, three triples, eight home runs, 154 runs scored, and 138 RBIs, while the Piper pitching staff owns a 7.70 ERA. … Hamline has scored 10 or more runs on seven separate occasions, including a season-high 20-run showing in drubbing Martin Luther 20-6 on Feb. 23. On the flip side, HU has allowed 10+ runs nine times, and allowed a season-high 26 in falling to Buena Vista 26-12 in its season-opener on Feb. 17. …