WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team returns home on Tuesday, as the Cardinals host St. Olaf in a 3:30 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at the SMU Field.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-5 MIAC | 13-11 Overall)
vs. St. Olaf Oles (6-6 MIAC | 14-16 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
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Last Action:
The Cardinals split their latest conference doubleheader on Saturday, beating Carleton 9-0 in five innings, but dropping the nightcap 5-1 in Northfield, Minn. … St. Olaf, meanwhile, posted a pair of conference wins over St. Catherine Saturday, as the Oles outlasted SCU 2-1 in 12 innings, then completed the sweep with a 4-2 Game 2 win in Northfield, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Olaf — Their Last Meeting:
May 3, 2011: SMU belted four home runs in cruising to a 14-4, five-inning win in the opener of the Cardinals conference doubleheader against Carleton in Winona, Minn. And it was more of the same in the nightcap, as the Cardinals continued feasting on Knight pitching, belting two more home runs en route to their second straight five-inning victory, an 11-1 win, and a sweep of Carleton.

Up Next:
The Cardinals take to the road on Thursday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 4:30 p.m. conference doubleheader against Macalester. … St. Olaf, meanwhile, also returns to action on Thursday — also on the road, and also in St. Paul, Minn. — as the Oles head to Hamline for a 3:30 p.m. MIAC twinbill against the Pipers.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Media Guide
Tuesday's DH against St. Olaf is the first of four doubleheaders this week for the Cardinals. SMU is in the midst of 14 games in a 12-day stretch. … Sunday's postponement of SMU's doubleheader at Saint Benedict was the first “rain-out” of the season for the Cardinals. … Four of SMU's last five wins have ended in five innings by the eight-run rule — 9-1 and 9-0 wins over Hamline on April 3, an 8-0 win in Game 2 against Concordia on April 5, and Saturday's 9-0 victory over Carleton. … SMU boasted five players — Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.), Anna Ramboldt (Goodhue, Minn.), Michelle Carne (Escanaba, Mich.), Julianne Bartosz (Mokena, Ill.) and Melanie Hamilton (Homewood, Ill.) — with two hits in Saturday's Game 1 win over Carleton. … Ohl was 3-for-4, while Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) and Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) chipped in two hits each in Game 2 vs. the Knights Saturday. … Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) — who went 4-for-4, including a double and a home run, with three RBIs and two runs scored in SMU's 8-7 loss to Luther in the opener on April 12 — has now gone 14-for-23 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in her last six Game 1s. … Raske enters Tuesday's games against St. Olaf  hitting a team-best .427 She is one of seven Cardinals batting over .300. … Raske also leads or shares the team lead in at-bats (82), runs (28), hits (35), home runs (3), total bases (52) and slugging percentage (.634). … Ohl, who is hitting .390, shares the team lead in at-bats (82) and is second to Raske in runs (23) and hits (32). Ohl also boasts a team-best six stolen bases. … Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) owns a team-leading 21 RBIs and is second the team in doubles (6) and slugging percentage (.488). … As a team, SMU has six players with 10 or more RBIs. … Olson drew a Game 2 walk vs. Luther on April 12 to become the last Cardinal regular to draw a walk this season. … Carter owns a team-leading 11 multiple-hit games — one more than Ohl and two better than Raske. … Raske's 4-for-4 Game 1 effort vs. Luther on April 12 was her second four-hit game of the season. No other Cardinals has recorded more than three hits in a game. … Carter also leads the team with seven multiple-RBI games. … The Cardinals have hit six home runs in their last 14 games — with three being collegiate firsts. Along with Raske, Hamilton 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 119.2 of the team's 149.2 innings. … Peterson is 10-8 with a 5.49 ERA, tossing nine complete games and two shutouts. She has also struck out 42 batters. … The Cardinals played back-to-back doubleheaders on back-to-back days against nationally ranked teams — squaring off against No. 22 St. Thomas on April 11 and against No. 4 Luther on April 12. … SMU's 8-5 loss in the opener to St. Thomas on April 11 snapped the Cardinals' four-game winning streak. … SMU's 8-0 loss to St. Thomas in Game 2 on April 11 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. … SMU has outscored its opponents 145-125 — including 27-13 in the second inning and 20-14 in the fifth. …  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 (8-0) when holding their opponent to two runs or less. … The Cardinals are 10-1 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. Olaf Oles News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
St. Olaf's 2-1 and 4-2 wins over St. Catherine Saturday pushed the Oles' winning streak to three straight. … St. Olaf's last six wins have all been by two runs or less. On the flip side, the Oles have surrendered seven or more runs in its last six losses. … St. Olaf scored a season-high 11 runs in an 11-3 win over Worcester State on March 19, then followed that up with 10 runs in a 10-0 rout of Smith College later that day. … Natalie Mironov went 4-for-5 in the Oles' 2-1, 12-inning victory over St. Catherine Saturday, while Jess Wilson and Julie Fergus each went 2-for-3 in the 4-2 Game 2 win. … Christiania Mille is hitting a team-best .460, while sharing the team lead for hits (27) with Wilson. … Wilson also leads or shares the team lead in at-bats (93), doubles (9), home runs (2), RBIs (18), total bases (42) and slugging percentage (.452). … Fergus has accounted for a team-high 11 of the Oles' 37 stolen bases. … St. Olaf boasts three players with 20 or more hits and eight with at least 10. … Jessica Green and Amy Prok has shared the brunt of the pitching detail, with Green owning a 2.25 ERA and a 7-6 record in 84.0 innings, while Prok is 5-9 with a 2.45 ERA in 91.1 IP. … Green also leads the team with 75 strikeouts, while Prok has fanned 53 batters. … St. Olaf has been outscored in every inning but the sixth, where the Oles hold a 19-13 advantage. … St. Olaf has been outscored 19-9 in the first inning and are 4-13 when its opponent scores first. … St. Olaf's 2-1, 12-inning win over St. Catherine on Saturday was its first extra-inning win of the season.