ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team hits the road on Monday, traveling to Gustavus for a key, 4 p.m. conference doubleheader against the Gusties.





The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (12-6 MIAC | 19-13 Overall) vs.
Gustavus Gusties (15-2-1 MIAC | 22-11-1 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals collected a conference sweep of St. Catherine on Friday, winning the opener 8-4 in eight innings, then scoring four runs in the seventh inning of a 10-2 win in the nightcap. … Gustavus, meanwhile, feasted on Macalester pitcher on Thursday, routing the Scots 13-0 and 18-2 in St. Paul, Minn.

Last Meeting — April 22 2010:
Kellie Simons (Richfield, Minn.) delivered a seventh-inning home run to left field. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Simons' homer was a solo shot — and only got the Cardinals to within one — as the Gusties held on despite, SMU's seventh-inning rally, for the 3-2 victory. And one swing of the bat proved to be the difference in Game 2 as well, as Andrea Brown drove in the Gusties' fourth run with an RBI single in the fifth inning as GAC again withstood a late SMU rally — this one a three-run outburst in the bottom of the fifth — to beat the Cardinals 4-3 and complete the conference sweep at the SMU Field.

Up Next:
The Cardinals close out their MIAC schedule on Tuesday, hosting Carleton in a 4 p.m. conference doubleheader at the SMU Field. It will also be Senior Day, as SMU honors graduating seniors Katy Gannon (Roselle, Ill.), Mallory Betzold (Farmington, Minn.), Kellie Simons (Richfield, Minn.) and Joanna Mangan (Chicago, Ill.). … Gustavus, meanwhile, is back in action on Wednesday, hosting Saint Benedict in a conference twinbill at 4 p.m. in St. Peter, Minn.

Saint Mary's Cardinals Around The Horn:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics
Thanks to their two wins over St. Catherine Friday, the Cardinals have now won four straight and seven of their last eight MIAC games. … The Cardinals head into their final four MIAC games in fourth place in the MIAC standing at 12-6. — two wins better than Hamline (10-8) and four wins in front of Saint Benedict (8-8) which has six conference games remaining. … SMU still faces Gustavus (15-2-1) and Carleton (5-11) in its quest for one of the MIAC's four conference tournament berths. … Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) and Joanna Mangan (Chicago, Ill.) swung hot bats against St. Catherine Friday, both going 5-for-8 with a pair of RBIs. … Michelle Carne (Escanaba, Mich.) was 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs and Mangan was 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs in the opener, while Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Katy Gannon were both 3-for-5 in Game 2. … Gannon launched her team-leading seventh home run of the season in the second game vs. St. Catherine Friday, giving SMU 18 home runs for the season — equaling the third-highest home run production in program history. … Gannon has now hit 19 career home runs — ranking her second all-time, seven HRs back of career leader Jill Hocking. … With her three hits in Game 1 and two hits in Game 2 Friday, Carter — who has collected hits in 25 of the team's 32 games — has recorded a team-high 15 multiple-hit games this season. The sophomore also leads the team with eight multiple-RBI games. … Carter enters Monday's DH at Gustavus boasting a team-best .417 batting average — she is one of seven Cardinals hitting .300 or better. … Carter also leads the Cardinals in hits (43), doubles (11), RBIs (32), total bases (63) and slugging percentage (.612). … Stenseth leads the team in at-bats (113) and runs (28). … Mallory Betzold (Farmington, Minn.) collected her team-leading 13th win of the season in SMU's 8-4 Game 1 win over St. Catherine Friday. The 13 pitching wins are a single-season career high for the senior left-hander. … Betzold enters Monday's DH at Gustavus 13-6 with a 2.52 ERA. She boasts nine complete games and has thrown 113.2 innings, striking out 66 and walking just 11. … SMU's 14 runs in its 14-1, five-inning Game 1 win vs. the Cobbers on April 17 were a season high. … SMU erupted for 10 first-inning runs vs. Concordia in the opener on April 17, marking the most runs scored in a single inning since scoring 13 runs in the second inning of a 27-0 win over Mount Mary College in Tucson, Ariz., on March 20, 2009. … With their eight-inning Game 1 win vs. St. Catherine Friday, the Cardinals are now 4-0 in extra-inning games this season. … SMU's two extra-inning wins vs. Augsburg on April 13 marked the first time both games of a Cardinal doubleheader have gone to extra inning since SMU dropped 3-2 and 7-6 decisions to Saint Benedict on April 25, 2010. … The Cardinals' 5-4, 10-inning win in Game 2 vs. Augsburg on April 13 was their longest game since April 27, 2006, when UW-La Crosse outlasted SMU 3-2 in 11 innings. … The Cardinals' 14-1, five-inning win vs. Concordia on April 17 marked the sixth time this season SMU has won by the eight-run rule. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 33-10 in the first inning. … SMU has scored first in 16 of its 19 wins. … The Cardinals are 9-1 when leading after the sixth inning. … The Cardinals have held their opponents to two runs or less in 14 of their 19 wins. … SMU's 1-0, 8-0 sweep of St. Olaf on April 5 was the Cardinals' first sweep by shutout since SMU blanked St. Catherine 3-0, 7-0 on April 28, 2010.

Gustavus Gusties Around The Horn:
2011 Schedule | 2011 Roster | 2011 Overall Statistics
The Gusties enter Monday's showdown with Saint Mary's riding a six-game winning streak. … Since opening the season with four straight losses, Gustavus has gone 22-7-1 in its last 30 games. … With their 13-0 and 18-2 wins over Macalester Thursday, the Gusties locked up a spot in the MIAC Tournament, joining league-leading St. Thomas as teams who have clinched berths in the four-team post-season tournament. … GAC banged out a season-high 17 hits in its 13-0 Game 1 win over Macalester Thursday, with six different players collecting at least two hits. Kate Rentschler led the way, going 3-for-3 with a double, home run and four RBIs. … Gustavus scored 10 runs in the third inning en route to their sweep-clinching 18-0 Game 2 win vs. Macalester. … Emily Wendorff belted a three-run HR in Game 2 vs. the Scots, while three other players — Emily Gruhlke, Jen Ulmen and Caitlin Whitney — all had two hits. … Ulmen enters Monday's DH vs. SMU with a team-best .406 batting average. She is one of 11 Gusties hitting above .300. … Jenny Ewert owns the team lead in at-bats (94), runs (28) and hits (35), while Rentschler has delivered a team-high nine doubles and shares the team's HR lead (4) with Ulmen. … Rentschler also leads the team in RBIs with 22 and boasts a .736 slugging percentage. … Along with her performance at the plate, Rentschler has also been the Gusties' leader on the mound, hurling a team-high 111.0 innings. She's compiled a 14-7 record and a 3.53 ERA with 11 complete games and 83 strikeouts. … The Gusties have scored five or more runs 19 times this season — including a season-high 21 runs in a 21-2 win over UM-Morris on March 5. … The Gusties are 13-1-1 when scoring in the first inning and 17-1-1 when scoring the game's first run. … GAC comes into Monday's DH vs. Saint Mary's 9-1 at home.