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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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| 2007 Records: 3-11 MIAC, 7-18 Overall |
| Recent Results: Saint Mary's 17, Carleton 4 / Details Carleton 11, Saint Mary's 10 / Details Saint Mary's 8, Macalester 5 / Details Saint Mary's 12, Macalester 7 / Details Gustavus 13, Saint Mary's 2 / Details Gustavus 9, Saint Mary's 5 (9) / Details |
| Upcoming Games: Tues., April 24: SMU at Bethel, 2:30 Sat., April 28: Hamline at SMU, 1:00 Wed., May 2: Concordia at SMU, 1:00 |
| Cardinal News and Notes: The Cardinals’ back-to-back wins vs. Macalester last Wednesday marked their first MIAC sweep since taking two from Augsburg (3-2, 6-2) on May 2, 2005. … Gustavus' 12 runs scored in Game 1 Saturday, marked the seventh time this season SMU has allowed 10 or more runs. … SMU's 17 runs scored vs. Carleton on Monday — not to mention their 20 hits — were both season highs. … The Cardinals' 17 runs were also the most since SMU plated 21 in a 21-2 win over Hillsdale Baptist on March 9, 2000. … SMU was held to a season-low two hits in Game 1 vs. the Gusties Saturday. … David Krieger (Mendota Heights, Minn.) enjoyed a banner day vs. Macalester, going 5-for-7 with a double and five RBIs. It was the SMU senior’s first two multiple-RBI games of the season. Krieger finished the week with a team-best .533 average (8-for-15) with two doubles and six RBIs. … David Baker (Monticello, Minn.) struck out four batters (the first one reached first on a dropped third strike) in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 2 vs. Macalester to ice the win. … After being held off the base paths for just the second time in SMU's first 19 games on Aprl 14, Nick Winecke (St. Paul, Minn.) reached base in six of seven plate appearances vs. Carleton Monday, and was on base in both games vs. Macalester and Gustavus. … Winecke, who was 2-for-4 in Game 1 vs. the Scots, boasts a team-leading eight multiple-hit games, while Brady Knudsen (Racine, Wis.) went 4-for-5 in Game 1 vs. Carleton Monday, recording the Cardinals' first four-hit game of the season. Knudsen also scored 10 runs in SMU's six games last week. … SMU's nine-run third inning in Game 2 against Carleton was a season high. … The Cardinals won for the first time when either team scores in the first inning (1-11) in Game 1 vs. Carleton last Monday, then followed that up by scoring two runs in the first in Wednesday’s Game 2 win vs. Macalester. … The second and seventh innings continue to be the Cardinals' Achilles heel — SMU has been outscored 27-4 in the second inning and 19-10 in the seventh. … Saturday's Game 2 loss to Gustavus was the Cardinals' third loss in four extra-inning games. |
chapter in Whaley's "I thought I've seen it all" story
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David
Krieger .533 BA, 2 2Bs, 6 RBIs last week |
But this year has added a few new wrinkles.
There was the 10-run, fourth inning in a season-opening loss to Wartburg … . The 21-run, 24-hit St. Olaf assault in a loss to the Oles … . Not to mention the back-to-back losses to Augsburg in which SMU held the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. … Or the nearly one-hour long nine-run Tommie fifth inning in an 11-9 loss to St. Thomas. … And how about the Cardinals rallying from an 8-0 deficit to take a 10-8 lead, only to fall 11-10 to Carleton.
It's been a season of oddities.
But nothing could compare to Game 2 last Saturday afternoon.
After managing just two runs and two hits in dropping game one of their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader to Gustavus, 13-2, the Cardinals rallied from a 5-1 deficit with three runs in the fifth and another in the bottom of the seventh to send Game 2 into extra innings.
And that's where it gets really strange — were it any other year but this one.
With the score still tied in the top of the ninth, Pat Siering reached on a one-out error, bringing Tony Konicek to the plate. With first base open, Whaley signals to intentionally walk Konicek — who had been feasting on SMU pitching, going 4-for-7 with two doubles, three runs scored and three RBIs. Matt Wilgenbusch's (Rickardsville, Iowa) second offering, however, got a little too close and Konicek reached out and laced an RBI triple, fueling a four-run ninth inning and leading GAC to a 9-5 Game 2 win.,
"It's a tough way to lose a game, but in reality — against a team that is as strong offensively as Gustavus is — we really needed to win that game when we tied it in the seventh," said Whaley. "The more chances you give a team like that, the more the likelihood is that they are going to score — and score more than once.
"Unfortunately, what gets lost in a game with such a strange ending, is that we battled back and did what we had to do to tie it in the seventh," added Whaley, whose team had won three of its last four entering Saturday's game — splitting against Carleton last Monday, then picking up their first MIAC sweep since late in the 2005 season with an 8-5, 12-7 sweep of Macalester Wednesday. "After a rough first inning, our pitchers gave us a chance to win. Jason (Bujold) pitched extremely well in relief, and defensively, we played pretty well."
Gustavus jumped on SMU starter David Baker (Monticello, Minn.) for thee first-inning runs in Game 2, and, after trading second-inning runs, the Cardinals' offense finally came to life, scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth — two coming on a double by Kevin Black (Mahtomedi, Minn.) — to cut the lead to 5-4. SMU then pulled even in the bottom of the seventh, as Kyle Ryan (St. Paul, Minn.,) singled, was sacrificed to second, moved to third on a single by Nick Winecke (St. Paul, Minn.) and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brady Knudsen (Racine, Wis.).
As has been the case far too often, the Cardinals dug themselves an early hole in the opener, as Gustavus delivered six hits and scored four of its five first-inning runs before SMU recorded the first out of the game. GAC pushed that advantage to 12-0 with a seven-run third, and the Cardinals never recovered, managing just a Joe Krause (St. James, Minn.) single in the third and a Pete Bissen (Fairmont, Minn.) single in the seventh off GAC pitching.
"I'm proud of the way this team never throws in the towel," said Whaley. "We lose the first game 13-2, and then turn around and give up three runs in the first inning of the second game. But they never stopped played — they just kept battling and battling.
"Resiliency is a good word to describe this team — they never stop playing."