vs.
Saint Mary's Cardinals   0-0 Overall			North Central Rams   0-0 Overall
		vs.
Saint Mary's Cardinals   0-0 Overall			Buena Vista Beavers   0-0 Overall

Last Action: Today's nonconference doubleheader against North Central is the season opener for the Cardinals, who are coming off a 15-21 season a year ago. … This weekend's games in the Rosemount Dome are also the first for both North Central and Buena Vista. Buena Vista opens its play Friday against St. Thomas, before playing SMU on Sunday. North Central only game of the weekend is against SMU.

Last Meeting: SMU and North Central are meeting for the first time in the program's history, while the Cardinals and Buena Vista squared off in the Rosemount Dome a year ago, with Beavers winning the opener 4-2, while the Cardinals won the nightcap 17-9.

Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: The Cardinals  opened their season and ended their season against nationally ranked teams a year ago — falling to 10th-ranked UW-Eau Claire 5-4 and 6-4 in their season openers, then dropping 5-0 and 15-2 decisions to fourth-ranked St. Thomas to close out the year — en route to a 15-21 record last season. … After being held without a hit in the first game against Carleton on April 22— snapping a 27-game hitting streak — Cassie Otte (Randolph, Minn.) closed out the season going 12-for-25 with a double, triple, three RBIs and six runs scored. … Otte had at least one hit in 33 of the Cardinals' 36 games — including a team-leading 19 multiple-hit games — and reached base safely in 33 of those 36 games. … Otte — a first-team All-MIAC and All-Region selection in 2008 — had six three-hit games, and led the team in virtually every offensive category, including average (.433), at-bats (134), runs (34), hits (58), doubles (7), triples (2), on-base percentage (.458) and stolen bases (7). … In her three seasons, Otte has put together hitting streaks of four (freshman year), 17 (sophomore year) and 27 (junior year). … Danielle Geske (Rosemount, Minn.) — a second-team All-Region and honorable-mention All-MIAC pick a year ago — boasted team-highs in home runs (7), RBIs (34) and slugging percentage (.626), and compiled 14 multiple-hit games and a team-leading 10 multiple-RBI games. … Geske's seven home runs rank second all-time, behind Jill Hocking's school-record 13 in 2000. … The Cardinals' 18 home runs last season rank No. 3 all-time. … The Cardinals did not win a game in which they were out-hit (0-16) and were just 1-17 when trailing after five innings. … SMU held its opponents to five runs or less in 13 of its 15 wins. On the flip side, the Cardinals were 0-10 when held to two runs or less.

North Central Rams: The Rams are in just their fifth year as a varsity program. … Pitcher Danielle Anderson and infielders Emily and Amanda Matson return as the team's leading offensive performers.

Buena Vista Beavers: The Beavers enter their first season under head coach Heather Hupke, who returns to alma mater, following retirement of former head coach Marge Willadsen, who spent 28 years at the helm at BVU. Hupke, who had spent the previous 10 seasons at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa, was a four-time All-American pitcher at BVU and led the team to a national runner-up finish in her first freshman season. … BVU finished 8-26 overall a year ago, while posting a 2-14 mark in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. … This year's team boasts nine returners to go along with 11 newcomers. … Sophomore Allysa Stephens is the Beavers' top offensive returner, having hit .288 with five doubles and 15 RBIs a year ago. … The Beavers were outscored in every inning but the first a year ago. BVU boasted a 33-27 scoring advantage in the game's opening frame. Seven of the Beavers eight wins came when BVU scored in the first inning. … BVU was held to two runs or fewer in 17 of its 34 games a year ago. The Beavers were winless in those 17 games. … BVU was also 0-19 when its opponent scored first.