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Saint Mary's Cardinals   8-8 MIAC, 16-12 Overall		Gustavus Gusties    14-0 MIAC, 25-3 Overall

Last Action: The Cardinals bounced back from a 6-3, Game 1 loss to St. Catherine Saturday with an impressive 8-0, five-inning win in the nightcap. Jaci Prondzinski (Etrick, Wis.) belted a two-run double and tossed a complete-game three-hitter, while Cassie Otte (Randolph, Minn.) went 4-for-4 with two runs scored in the nightcap. … Gustavus, meanwhile, remained unbeaten and atop the conference standings, rolling to a pair of easy wins over Saint Benedict, beating the Blazers 8-0 and 9-2 in St. Joseph, Minn.

Last Meeting: Gustavus put together a pair of five-run innings, one in each game, as the Gusties knocked off the Cardinals 7-0 and 6-2 at Cotter Field — and all but knocked SMU out of the playoff hunt.

Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: With their split vs. St. Catherine — SMU's second split in the last three days — the Cardinals' road to the MIAC Tournament became a bit more rocky. SMU enters today's doubleheader trailing fourth-place St. Catherine (10-6) by two games with six conference games to play, including doubleheaders against the MIAC's top two teams — Gustavus (Sunday) and St. Thomas (on April 26). … Cassie Otte (Randolph, Minn.) put together her second 4-for-4 performance in the last four games in Game 2 vs. St. Catherine Saturday. Otte also went 4-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored in SMU's 12-4 Game 1 win over Augsburg on Thursday. Otte now has three four-hit games in her illustrious career. Her other four-hit effort was a 4-for-5 performance vs. UW-Stout on March 24, 2007. Otte, who went 2-for-4 in the opener vs. the Wildcats Saturday, now boasts a team-best 18 multiple-hit games this season. … Otte also leads the team in average (.495), at-bats (107), runs (32), hits (53), total bases (56) and stolen bases (19). … Katy Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) is the team's RBI leader (30), while also leading the team in home runs (4) and slugging percentage (.551). Gannon also boasts a team-best nine extra-base hits and six multiple-RBI games — including a career-best 5 RBIs during a 3-for-3 showing against Mount Mary on March 20. … Gannon was held hitless in Game 1 vs. Saint Benedict on April 4, snapping her season-, team- and career-high 14-game hitting streak. … Jessica Sharpe (Ottawa, Ill.) belted her first collegiate home run vs. Concordia last Saturday, launching a solo shot in the opener. … SMU's pitching staff enters today's DH boasting a 3.25 earned-run-average. … Jaci Prondzinski (Ettrick, Wis.) tossed her third complete game of the season Saturday, holding St. Catherine to three hits. … Mallory Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) has thrown a team-leading 107.2 innings, posting a 3.64 earned-run-average and a 10-9 record, while also striking out a team-best 50. … Thirteen of SMU's 15 hits vs. Augsburg last Thursday were singles. … The Cardinals were held to a season-low two hits in their Game 2 loss to the Auggies. … SMU's 7-2, Game 1 loss vs. Concordia on April 11 was the Cardinals' first extra-inning game of the season and the longest extra-inning game since the 2006 season, when SMU played two nine-inning games, one 10-inning contest and one 11-inning marathon. … The Cobbers' seven runs in Game 2 on April 11 marked the most allowed by SMU in a win since the Cardinals beat Buena Vista 17-9 on March 8, 2008. … SMU's 27 runs vs. Mount Mary on March 20 marked the second time this season the Cardinals have plated 20 or more runs. SMU opened the season with a 29-0 rout of North Central (Minn.) on March 14. … SMU's 27- and 29-run outbursts were the second- and third-most runs scored in school history, behind the 43 runs the Cardinals plated in a 43-2 win over St. Catherine on April 24, 1997. … The Cardinals' 12-run outburst vs. Augsburg Thursday was the ninth time this season they scored 10 or more runs. … The Cardinals have outscored their first 28 opponents 202-99 — including 36-6 in the second inning and 52-21 in the third. SMU has given up 27 runs combined from the sixth inning on. … SMU is 9-0 when scoring in the first inning and 12-0 when scoring the game's first run. … Six of SMU's 15 wins have come via shutout, while the Cardinals are 12-0 when holding their opponent to two runs or less … On the flip side, SMU has been held under three runs in nine of its 11 losses.

Gustavus Gustie Notes: With their sweep of Saint Benedict on Saturday, the Gusties pushed their conference-leading record to 14-0 and padded their winning streak to a season-best 16 straight. … The Gusties have not lost since a 7-3 setback vs. Pacific on March 24. … GAC has outscored its opponents 121-11 during its 16-game winning streak — including eight wins by shutout. … The Gusties have shut out each of its conference opponents at least once. … The Gusties enter today's home DH vs. SMU unbeaten on their home turf (7-0). … GAC entered the weekend boasting eight players hitting above .400, including Lisa Klass' team-leading .431 batting average. As a team, the Gusties are hitting .376. … Rachel Click, who is second to Klass with a .429 average, leads the team in home runs (6), slugging percentage (.871) and walks (11), while Emily Klein is the team leader in at-bats (81), runs (29), hits (33) extra-base hits (18), RBIs (25), total bases (65) and stolen bases (17). … GAC's pitching staff — Betsie Collins, E. Truebenbach and Callie Nelsen — have combined for a 1.47 ERA in 157 innings. Truenbach has thrown a team-leading 67 innings en route to her 9-1 record and 1.25 ERA. She has also fanned a team-leading 82 batters. Collins owns a 1.04 ERA and a 7-2 mark with 63 strikeouts, while Nelsen is 7-0 with a 1.47 ERA and 33 Ks.