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Cardinal Roster
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Cardinal Statistics
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Cardinal Schedule
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MIAC Standings
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MIAC Statistics
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| 2006 Records: 1-5 MIAC, 3-15 Overall |
| Last Week's Results: Saint Mary's 8, Carleton 3 / Details Carleton 4, Saint Mary's 2 / Details Saint John's 8, Saint Mary's 7 / Details Saint John's 10, Saint Mary's 1 / Details St. Olaf 6, Saint Mary's 1 / Details St. Olaf 8, Saint Mary's 1 / Details |
| Upcoming Events: Tues., April 11: Augsburg at SMU, 2:30 p.m. Thurs., April 13: SMU at Luther, 1 p.m. Sat., April 15: SMU at St. Thomas, 1 p.m. |
| Cardinal News and Notes: Last Wednesday's Game 1 win over Carleton snapped SMU's three-game losing streak, but the Cardinals' 4-2 Game 2 loss vs. the Knights kicked off a five-game slide. … SMU has been held to one run in each of its last three games and the Cardinals have scored two or fewer runs in 10 of their 15 losses. … Nick Winecke (St. Paul, Minn.) hit a team-leading .333 in SMU's six games last week, going 6-for-18 with a double, two runs scored and a pair of RBIs. … Kevin Black (Mahtomedi, Minn.) belted a pair of home runs — his first two of the season — in SMU's 8-3 win over Carleton. … Black leads the team with six multiple-hit games and shares the team RBI lead (10) with teammate Brady Knudsen (Racine, Wis.). … Matt Popek (Eagan, Minn.) notched SMU's lone pitching win last week, tossing a complete-game two-hitter vs. the Knights last Tuesday. … The Cardinals stole just one base (on two attempts) in six games last week, while their opponents were 14-for-16. … The Cardinals are 0-5 when scoring in the first inning, 1-6 when scoring first, and 2-9 when their opponent scores first. … SMU has outscored its opponent 9-5 in the seventh inning, but are still 1-14 when trailing after six innings. |
streak hits 5 with losses to Carleton, SJU and STO
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Who's Hot?
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Nick
Winecke .333, 2B, 2 RBIs in 6 games |
The Cardinals managed just two runs — one in each game — as St. Olaf used a pair of late-inning outbursts to hand SMU a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setbacks, 6-1 and 8-1.
"We faced two very good St. Olaf pitchers, but to only come up with two runs in 14 innings of baseball is still disappointing," said SMU coach Nick Whaley, whose team has now dropped five straight — and has only scored one run in each of its last three games. "We were in position to win in both games, but we gave (St. Olaf) a couple of big innings that really hurt us."
The Oles broke open a 3-1 game with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of the opener, then erupted for four runs in the bottom of the sixth to turn a 4-1 nailbiter into an 8-1 rout in the second.
"I don't know what it is, but our play right now is a bit contagious — both offensively and defensively," said Whaley. "When we struggle at the plate, everybody struggles. And when we struggle in the field, it seems like everyone struggles."
The Oles tagged SMU starter Matt Popek (Eagan, Minn.) for six runs — four earned — on seven hits in Game 1. The Oles also took advantage of three SMU errors, scoring their first three runs following an SMU error.
And it was more of the same in the nightcap, as SMU committed a season-high four errors — one in the second that led to two unearned runs and two more in the fourth that led to two more unearned runs.
"Defensively, we did not play well (vs. St. Olaf) — you can't give teams fourth and fifth outs, which is exactly what we did," said Whaley, whose team scored its lone run on a St. Olaf error in the first game, then got an RBI single from Robbie Johnson (Lake Elmo, Minn.) in the fifth inning of Game 2. "The most disappointing part of the whole day is the fact that we wasted an outstanding pitching performance from Matt Popek in that first game. That may have been the best he's pitched in his three years here, and we weren't able to give him any support — offensively or defensively.
"Right now the key for us is to just stick to the game plan — we've just got to keep battling and keep working hard. Hopefully good things will start happening pretty soon."