The Team Facts:
Saint Mary's Cardinals — Location: Winona, Minn. / 2010 Record: 0-0 Overall
Kenyon Ladies — Location: Gambier, Ohio / 2010 Record: 1-3 Overall
Hastings Lady Broncos — Location: Hastings, Neb. / 2010 Record: 6-8 Overall
Puget Sound Loggers — Location: Puget Sound, Wash. / 2010 Record: 4-10 Overall
Cal State-San Marcos Cougars — Location: San Marcos, Calif. / 2010 Record: 14-6 Overall
Chapman Panthers — Location: Orange, Calif. / 2010 Record: 7-7 Overall
Tufts Jumbos — Location: Medford, Mass. / 2010 Record: 0-0 Overall
Linfield Wildcats — Location: McMinnville, Ore. / 2010 Record: 9-1 Overall

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SMU vs. the Field: Chapman and Tufts are the only teams among this year's opponents that SMU has faced before. The Cardinals faced Tufts twice at the 2008 Sun West Tournament, falling 8-7 and 12-4. SMU and Chapman, meanwhile, also faced off in the 2008 Sun West Tournament, with the Panthers coming away with a 9-2 victory.

Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: Despite dropping their final six games, the Cardinals finished with 18 wins in 2009, three more than the previous season. … SMU will be looking to replace all-everything outfielder Cassie Otte, who led the team in virtually every offensive category, including batting average (.449), at-bats (147), runs (38), hits (66), total bases (70), on-base percentage (.477) and stolen bases (21). … Otte's 66 hits rank No. 2 in program history behind SMU Hall of Famer Jenny Garin's 72 hits in 1997, while her .449 batting average ranks 10th all-time. She also finished with a team-best 22 multiple-hit games in 2009. … Katy Gannon (Roselle, Ill.) finished as the team's RBI leader (33), while sharing the team home run lead (4) and carrying a team-high .508 slugging percentage. … Gannon also boasted a team-best 12 extra-base hits and eight multiple-RBI games — including a career-best five 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. … SMU's pitching staff finished with a 4.10 earned-run-average. … All-MIAC performer Mallory Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) threw a team-leading 144.2 innings, posting a 4.26 earned-run-average and an 11-15 record, while also striking out a team-best 61. … SMU's 7-0, 8-0 wins vs. Macalester on April 22 marked the only time last season the Cardinals swept a doubleheader by shutout. … 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. … SMU's 10 runs scored vs. UW-River Falls on April 28 were the most in a Cardinal loss since a 13-12 loss to UW-Eau Claire on April 9, 1994. On the flip side, Concordia's 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 finished 14-0 when holding its opponents to two runs or less, and was also 14-0 when scoring first. … On the flip side, SMU was been held under three runs in 16 of its 22 losses.

Tufts Jumbo Notes: Tufts enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in the NCAA Division III history last spring. Their 44-3 final record was the eighth-best winning percentage (.936) since official NCAA softball records began with the 1982 season. … The Jumbos won their third straight New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title, captured their second NCAA New England Region crown, and finished fourth in the nation at the NCAA Tournament Championship in Montclair, New Jersey. … Coach Cheryl Milligan's Jumbos were also ranked fourth in the final National Fast-pitch Coaches Association (NFCA) poll. … The Jumbos opened 2010 minus eight players lost to graduation. … With shortstop Casey Sullivan, an NFCA All-Region First Team pick last year, and 2008 NESCAC Player of the Year Christy Tinker at first base, the Jumbos have a strong core in the infield. … Lena Cantone provided pop at the plate in her first season last spring and was voted an NFCA Second Team All-American. … Pitcher Izzie Santone, 21-2 with a 1.13 earned run average last season, should be one of the region's best in the circle again for 2010.

Chapman Panther Notes: Last year Chapman was 17-20 and missed the NCAA playoffs for the first time since 2002. … The Panthers are still very young this year as seven of their nine regular starting position players are freshmen or sophomores. … Chapman is 7-7 this season, having split five of seven doubleheaders this year. … Three times already this season, freshman Kyla Javier has come up with the game tied or CU trailing by a run and delivered a clutch hit in the Panthers' final at-bat. Javier has two walk-off hits and one game-tying double with two outs and two strikes on her. … Despite a team-high four losses, freshman Sarah Solis has emerged as CU's most consistent starting pitcher. She has a team-low 2.68 ERA and leads the Panthers with two complete games, a .203 opponent batting average and has walked just two batters in 34 innings. … Freshman Kerry Peterson leads Chapman with a .359 average, five doubles and 10 RBIs.

California State University-San Marcos Cougar Notes: In just the program's fourth year of existence, Cal State San Marcos softball has become a national contender in the NAIA. Coming off two straight post-season appearances, including a 34-23 record and trip to the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Championship Game in 2009, the Cougars entered 2010 ranked No. 20 in the NAIA Preseason Poll. … The Cougars come to the Sun West Tournament having won six straight games. …  Pitcher Brenna Sandberg has thrown a team-best 110.0 innings, compiling a 13-3 record and a 1.46 earned-run-average. She has struck out 82, while walking just 21. … Sandberg's 13 wins are tops in the country. … Alyssa Dronenburg is hitting a team-best .500 with eight home runs, 18 runs scored and 23 RBIs. She also ranks among the nation's top 10in slugging percentage (1.077), home runs (8), and total bases (56). … As a team, CSUSM is batting .310 and has a 2.01 ERA. … CSUSM has improved its win total every year: 10 wins in 2007, 27 in 2008, and 34 in 2009.

Kenyon Ladies Notes: In 2004, Kenyon recorded the first winning record in Ladies' softball history. The team posted a 17-15 mark and earned a berth in the NCAC playoffs. … Kenyon posted single-season records for wins (20) and conference victories (10) in 2006 and notched its first-ever postseason win, a 1-0 victory over Wittenberg University. … The Ladies are coming off a .500 season (18-18) in 2009, and have managed just one win in their first four games this season. … Ellen Witkowski is hitting a team-best .417, while also leading the team in home runs (1), RBIs (3), total bases (9) and slugging percentage (.750). … Witkowski and Jamie Samuel share the team lead with five hits each, with Brianna LaChusa, Brittany Vanegas, and Emily Prehoda scoring a team-high three runs each. … On the mound, a trio of Ladies hurlers have combined for a 4.93 ERA and a 1-3 record. Vanegas owns a 3.09 ERA and a 1-1 record in a team-leading 11.1 innings pitched. Jenny Dillon, meanwhile, owns a team-best six strikeouts.

Hastings Lady Bronco Notes: The Lady Broncos enter Thursday's game vs. Saint Mary's on the heels of back-to-back losses to Pacific (6-3) and Azusa Pacific (4-1). The losses dropped Hastings to 3-3 during its six games in the Sun West Tournament. … The Lady Broncos finished of 35-17 overall a year ago, reaching the NAIA National Tournament. …  Hastings was picked to finish third in the 2010 GPAC Preseason Poll.  Hastings finished with 126 points and two first-place votes. … Kayla Peltz broke Hastings career hits record (183) with two hits against Bethany on Feb. 28. Peltz enters Thursday's game with 193 career hits. … Becky Paladino also broke a career record this season, belting her record-setting 15th career home runs vs. Pacific on March 15. … Chelsey Woodside and Peltz are the team's offenseive leaders, boasting .350 and .349 batting averages, respectively. … Paladino leads the team with 19 hits, three doubles, four homes runs and 11 RBIs. … Woodside has also been the ace on the mound for the Lady Broncos, compiling a 3-0 record with a 1.14 ERA.

Puget Sound Loggers: After a slow start in which the Loggers opened with eight straight losses, Puget Sound — which went 16-24 a year ago — has gone 4-2 in its last six. … The Loggers, who return two All-NWC selections in Aryn Grause and Megan Janes, were picked sixth in the Northwest Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. … Anthea Aasen has carried the hot bat for Puget Sound, hitting a team-best .405, while also leading the squad in at-bats (42), hits (17), doubles (4), total bases (24) and slugging percentage (.571). … Auriel Sperberg has been the team's pitching leader, appearing in 11 of the team's 12 games. She boasts a 4.26 ERA and a 2-4 record, while throwing 47.2 innings and striking out 38. … The Loggers have not won a game in which they've trailed after the fourth inning (0-8). On the flip side, Puget Sound is 2-0 when leading after the fourth inning.

Linfield Wildcat Notes: The Wildcats, who have played in four straight NCAA Division III national tournaments, have been tabbed the favorite to win their seventh straight Northwest Conference title. … Linfield finished 39-6 a year ago and returns three NFCA All-Americans in Emily Keagbine, Stacy Doucette and Alex Hartmann. … Keagbine, a second team All-American, hit .401 with nine home runs as a sophomore a year ago, while Doucette clubbed 12 homers and hit .447 on her way to NWC Player of the Year and first team All-American honors. … The Wildcats are off to a red-hot start in 2010, opening with six straight wins, before suffering their lone blemish, a 2-1 decision to Whitworth on March 14. Linfield rebounded from that loss with three straight victories over Whitworth — 10-8, 10-1 and 6-2 — to enter the Sun West Tournament 9-1. … Karleigh Prestianni leads the team offensively, hitting .520, while Doucette (.467) and Keagbine (.433) are also hitting about .400. … Doucette also leads the team in hits (14), home runs (5) and slugging percentage (.967). … Keagbine has scored a team-leading 13 runs, while adding two doubles, 4 home runs and a team-best 17 RBIs. … As a team, Linfield boasts a 1.53 ERA. … Claire Velaski (0.39 ERA) is a perfect 2-0 with a team-leading 24 strikeouts, while Lauren Harvey leads the team in wins (4) and innings pitched (24.0). … The Wildcats have led after the fourth inning in eight of their 10 games, winning all eight. … The Wildcats have scored 10 or more runs in every inning but the sixth and seventh. … Linfield has scored first in each of its 10 games and is 5-0 when scoring in the first innings.