ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team hits the road on Wednesday, as the Cardinals travel to St. Thomas for a 3:30 p.m. conference doubleheader against the nationally ranked Tommies.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (6-2 MIAC | 12-6 Overall)
at St. Thomas Tommies (8-0 MIAC | 21-5 Overall)

Last Action:
The Cardinals picked up a pair of victories last Wednesday, as SMU swept Concordia 10-7 and 8-0 at the SMU Field. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, kept its conference record perfect Thursday, as the Tommies cruised to 8-2 and 8-0 MIAC wins over St. Olaf in Northfield, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — Their Last Meeting:
March 30, 2011: SMU proved once again that they could swing a big bat, as Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) belted a two-run home run — the Cardinals' sixth of the season — during the opening game of their MIAC doubleheader against St. Thomas at the SMU Gym. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Tommies also proved their could swing a pretty hefty bat, as the Tommies belted five home runs on the afternoon — three solo shots to account for all three runs in a 3-2 Game 1 win, and two more round-trippers in the Tommies' 9-3 victory in the nightcap.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are right back in action on Thursday, as SMU steps out of conference play to host fifth-ranked Luther in a 3 p.m. nonconference doubleheader at the SMU Field. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, are off until Saturday, when the Tommies head to St. Peter, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference showdown against Gustavus.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Media Guide
With their 10-7 and 8-0 wins over Concordia last Thursday, the Cardinals have now swept their last two conference doubleheaders and enter their MIAC showdown with St. Thomas having won four straight and six of their last seven. … SMU has now won three of its last four games in five innings by the eight-run rule — routing Hamline 9-1 and 9-0, and blanking Concordia 8-0 in Game 2 last Wednesday. … Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) belted her second home run as many games with a three-run shot in the first game vs. Concordia last Wednesday. … SMU had five players with two or more hits in their 10-7 Game 1 win over the Cobbers — led by Kristen Thelen (Rochester, Minn.), who was 3-for-4. Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.), Anna Ramboldt (Goodhue, Minn.), Stenseth, Michelle Carne (Escanaba, Mich.) and Melanie Hamilton (Homewood, Ill.) all had two hits. … Thelen picked up where she left off in Game 2 vs. CC, going 2-for-4 to finish the day 5-for-8. … Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) also had two hits in the nightcap vs. the Cobbers. … Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.), who went 1-for-3 with two RBIs in the opener vs. Concordia, has now gone 8-for-11 with two home runs and eight RBIs in her last three Game 1s. … The Cardinals have now hit five home runs in their last eight games — with three being collegiate firsts. Along with Raske's two HRs, Hamilton and Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) have also belted their first HRs as a Cardinal this season. … Raske enters Wednesday's DH at St. Thomas hitting a team-best .456. She is one of three Cardinals hitting above .400, and one of eight batting over .300. … Raske also leads the team in at-bats (62), runs (23), hits (28), home runs (2), total bases (39) and slugging percentage (.629). … Carter leads the team in doubles (6) and RBIs (18). … Olson is the only Cardinal regular to not have been walked this season. … Carter's 2-for-3 performance in Game 2 vs. Concordia was Carter's team-leading ninth multiple-hit game of the season. Raske and Ohl each have eight multiple-hit games. … Carter also leads the team with seven multiple-RBI games. … Kayla Peterson (Lewiston, Minn.) picked up the pitching wins in both games vs. Concordia last Thursday, as the junior allowed three earned runs on seven hits in 6.1 innings in the opener, then blanked CC on seven hits in the five-inning nightcap. … Peterson has been the workhorse on the mound for the Cardinals, throwing 99.1 of the team's 110.1 innings. … Peterson is 10-5 with a 4.35 ERA, tossing eight complete games and two shutouts. She has also struck out 36 batters. … SMU has outscored its opponents 118-80 — including a 46-19 edge through the game's first two innings. … The Cardinals scored a season-high 12 runs in a 12-3, Game 1 win over Lebanon Valley on March 6. … SMU is 3-0 in one-run games this season and the Cardinals are unbeaten (7-0) when holding their opponent to two runs or less. … The Cardinals are 9-1 when outhitting their opponent — their only blemish a 9-5 Game 2 loss to Bethel on March 31. … SMU's 7-6, nine-inning win over Elizabethtown on March 10 was the Cardinals' longest game since beating Augsburg 5-4 in 10 innings of the second game of their MIAC doubleheader on April 13. … SMU's 7-6 victory over Emerson on March 9 was the 100th career collegiate coaching win for Cardinal coach Jen Miller.

St. Thomas Tommies News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
With their sweep of St. Olaf on Thursday, the Tommies — ranked No. 25 in the latest NFCA national poll — pushed their current winning streak to 10. UST's last loss was a 6-5 setback to Fontbonne on March 22 in Clermont, Fla. … UST has won 50 in a row vs. conference foes since an April 2010 home split with Saint Mary's. This marks the 16th year in a row that Coach John Tschida's Saint Mary's or St. Thomas teams have had at least one double-digit win streak.St. Thomas has won 15 of its last 16 games. … With their two wins over St. Olaf last Thursday, the Tommies have swept 22 consecutive MIAC doubleheaders. … St. Thomas is 63-1 in on-campus games since April, 2005 — with the lone loss a Game 2 setback vs. Saint Mary's. … UST has outscored its conference foes 62-11 through eight MIAC games. … Kendra Bowe threw 10 shutout innings and struck out 15 in recording to pitching wins over St. Olaf last Thursday. … With her two wins against St. Olaf, Bowe pushed her record to 12-0 with a microscopic 1.06 ERA. She has thrown 79.0 of the team's 174.0 innings. Bowe has also struck out a team-leading 89 batters and opponents are hitting just .162 against her. … UST coach John Tschida has used eight different pitchers this season. … Dunrud boasts a team-best .442 batting average, while Hassel is also hitting above .400, sitting at .435. … As a team, the Tommies are hitting .363 and boast eight players hitting above .300. … Kimmy Hassel also leads the team in at-bats (92), runs (28), hits (40), doubles (8), triples (3), RBIs (21), total bases (60) and slugging percentage (.652). … The Tommies have stolen 52 bases on 63 attempts, led by Alyssa Dunrud with 17 steals in 18 tries. … Emily Gregory has hit a team-best four home runs. UST has belted 15 round-trippers this season. … St. Thomas has outscored its opponents 179-79 — including 63-12 advantage through the game's first two innings. … St. Thomas has been held to two runs or less in three of their five losses. The Tommies are 8-1 when scoring 3-5 runs, 7-1 when scoring 6-9 and 6-0 when scoring 10 runs or more. … UST is 17-3 when scoring first and 12-1 when scoring in the first inning. … Last season, only NCAA champ Linfield had more wins among Division III teams than the Tommies, who finished 42-6. St. Thomas made the NCAA playoffs for the 14th time in the last 15 seasons, finished as regional tourney runner-up, and posted the program's eighth. … Coach Tschida is closing in on his 800th game in 18 seasons (676-117) and is on pace to reach 700 victories in the 2013 season. In 12 seasons at St. Thomas, his teams have swept 116 conference twinbills, split eight, and were swept just once, and in all games vs. conference opponents are 265-10.