WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team steps out of conference play on Thursday, hosting nationally ranked Luther in a 3 p.m. nonconference doubleheader at the SMU Field.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (12-8 Overall)
vs. Luther Norse (24-4 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals dropped a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games against St. Thomas Wednesday in St. Paul, Minn. The Tommies rallied from a 5-4 deficit to beat SMU 8-5 in the opener, then completed the sweep with an 8-0, five-inning win in the nightcap. … Luther, meanwhile, is coming off a clutch, 2-1, 11-2 sweep of third-ranked Coe Tuesday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that moved the Norse into the top spot in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

SMU vs. Luther — Their Last Meeting:
April 10, 2011: Luther erupted for three runs in three separate innings in handing the Cardinals a 10-2 setback in the opening game of their nonconference doubleheader in Decorah, Iowa. Luther then completed the sweep with a 6-2 victory in the nightcap.

Up Next:
The Cardinals return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, traveling to Northfield, Minn., for a 1 p.m. doubleheader against Carleton. … Luther, meanwhile, also returns to conference play on Saturday, hosting Buena Vista in a 2 p.m. IIAC doubleheader in Decorah, Iowa.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Media Guide
Thursday's game against fourth-ranked Luther is the second straight doubleheader against a nationally ranked team. St. Thomas, which swept SMU in conference play on Wednesday, is currently ranked No. 25 in the latest NFCA Top 25. … SMU's 8-5 loss in the opener to St. Thomas Wednesday snapped the Cardinals' four-game winning streak. … Wednesday's 8-0 loss to St. Thomas in Game 2 marked the first time SMU has been no-hit since March 29, 2002, when Central-Iowa held the Cardinals hitless in a 2-0 Dutch win. … Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) went 3-for-4 with an RBI to pace SMU's 11-hit Game 1 attack vs. St. Thomas Wednesday. Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) and Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) each chipped in two hits, while Anna Ramboldt (Goodhue, Minn.) delivered three RBIs. … Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.), who went 1-for-4 with in the opener vs. St. Thomas Wednesday, has now gone 9-for-15 with two home runs and eight RBIs in her last four Game 1s. … Raske enters Thursday's DH vs. Luther hitting a team-best .426. She is one of two Cardinals hitting above .400, and one of seven batting over .300. … Raske also leads or shares the team lead in at-bats (68), runs (24), hits (29), home runs (2), total bases (41) and slugging percentage (.603). … Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.), who is hitting .409, owns a team-leading 20 RBIs. … As a team, SMU has five players with 10 or more RBIs. … Olson is the only Cardinal regular to not have been walked this season. … Carter's 2-for-3 performance in Game 1 vs. St. Thomas Wednesday was her team-leading 10th 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. … Stenseth belted her second home run with a three-run shot in the first game vs. Concordia on April 5. … The Cardinals have hit five home runs in their last 10 games — with three being collegiate firsts. Along with Raske's two HRs, Melanie Hamilton (Homewood, Ill.) and Olson have also belted their first home runs as a Cardinal this season. … Kayla Peterson (Lewiston, Minn.) has been the workhorse on the mound for the Cardinals, throwing 109.1 of the team's 124.2 innings. … Peterson is 10-7 with a 5.27 ERA, tossing nine complete games and two shutouts. She has also struck out 38 batters. … SMU has outscored its opponents 123-96 — including a 48-22 edge through the game's first two innings. … Three of SMU's last four wins have ended in five innings by the eight-run rule — routing Hamline 9-1 and 9-0 on April 3, and blanking Concordia 8-0 in Game 2 on April 5. … 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.

Luther Norse News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
The Norse enter Thursday's nonconference doubleheader against Saint Mary's ranked No. 4 in the latest NFCA national poll. … Saint Mary's is the fourth MIAC team the Norse have faced. Luther is a perfect 5-0 vs. the MIAC this season. … Luther suffered its first conference loss of the season on April 7, dropping the second game of their doubleheader against Simpson 5-3. The loss also snapped the Norse's 10-game winning streak. … Three of Luther's four losses this season have been by shutout — 1-0 in eight innings to Western Connecticut State, 6-0 to Williams and 2-0 to UW-Eau Claire. … Luther has recorded nine wins that have been shortened by the eight-run rule — including Tuesday's five-inning, 11-2 Game 2 rout of No. 3 Coe. … Luther has scored 10 or more runs seven times — including a season-high 16 in a 16-5 win over Plymouth State on March 20. … Luther trailed Coe 2-1 after two innings of the second game Tuesday, before erupting for 10 unanswered runs in the next three innings to seal the win. … Shari Huber went 4-for-6 vs. Coe Tuesday — including 3-for-3 in Game 2 — and scored five runs. … With her four hits Tuesday Huber pushed her team-leading batting average to .418. … Huber also leads the team in at-bats (91), runs (32), hits (38) and triples (3). … Lauren Snyder, who is second to Huber with a .405 batting average, owns a team-high 12 doubles, while Kelsey Kittleson has belted a team-best seven home runs and boasts the team lead in RBIs (30) and slugging percentage (.692). … As a team, the Norse are hitting .346 with 77 extra-base hits — 54 doubles, four triples and 19 home runs. … Becca Girvan has tossed 113.0 of the team's 181.2 innings, compiling a 15-2 record and a 0.99 ERA. She has hurled 12 complete games, struck out 140 batters and opponents are hitting just .161 against her. … Luther boasts nine players who have started every game this season. … The Norse have outscored their opponents 185-58 — including 132-30 after the second inning. … Luther is 14-0 when scoring six or more runs. … The Norse are unbeaten (15-0) when scoring the game's first run and are 12-0 when scoring in the first inning.