WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team kicks off a busy weekend Saturday, hosting St. Catherine in a 1 p.m. MIAC doubleheader at SMU Field. The Cardinals then hit the road Sunday, traveling to Macalester for a 1 p.m. MIAC twinbill.



The Matchups:
Saturday, April 21, 2012 | SMU Field * Winona, Minn. | 1 p.m.
SMU Cardinals (8-6 MIAC | 14-12 Overall) vs. St. Catherine Wildcats (3-11 MIAC | 10-18 Overall)
Sunday, April 22, 2012 | Macalester Field * St. Paul, Minn. | 1 p.m.
SMU Cardinals (8-6 MIAC | 14-12 Overall) vs. Macalester Scots (5-9 MIAC | 16-14 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats | St. Catherine GameDay Program

Last Action:
The Cardinals bounced back to earn a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference split against St. Olaf on Tuesday. SMU dropped a 7-6, eight-inning decision in the opener against the Oles at the SMU Field, before rebounding with a 3-1 victory in the nightcap. … St. Catherine is coming off back-to-back losses to league-leading Gustavus on Tuesday, falling to the Gusties 6-3 and 3-1 in St. Paul, Minn. … Macalester enters its weekend doubleheaders at St. Olaf on Saturday and at home against Saint Mary's on Sunday coming off a split, topping Bethel 4-3 in Game 1, then falling 5-2 in the second in St. Paul, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Catherine — Their Last Meeting:
April 29, 2011: The final scores may indicate otherwise, but there was nothing easy about the Cardinals' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sweep of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn. The final score of the opener was 8-4 — with the Cardinals needing four runs in the top of the eighth inning to get past the Wildcats, while Game 2's final was an impressive 10-2 — an outcome that included an SMU four-run seventh inning.

SMU vs. Macalester — Their Last Meeting:
April 7, 2011: Katy Gannon belted her third home run as many games, sparking a four-run fifth inning, as the Cardinals broke open a close game and cruised to an 8-1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over visiting Macalester at the SMU Field. And Gannon picked up right where they left off in Game 2, as the SMU shortstop hit her fourth home run in as many games in leading the Cardinals to a 9-1, five-inning victory.

Up Next:
After Sunday's conference DH at Macalester, the Cardinals step out of conference play for a 4 p.m. nonconference doubleheader against UW-Eau Claire in Eau Claire, Wis., on Tuesday. … St. Catherine returns home on Wednesday, hosting Concordia in a 3:30 p.m. MIAC twinbill in St. Paul, Minn., while Macalester entertains league-leading St. Thomas in a pair of conference games beginning at 4:30 p.m. at Macalester Field in St. Paul, Minn.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Media Guide
Saturday's doubleheader against St. Catherine kicks off a busy eight days for the Cardinals, who will play 12 games in an eight-day stretch. … Tuesday's 7-6, eight-inning loss to St. Olaf was the Cardinals' second extra-inning game of the season. The Cardinals beat Elizabethtown 6-5 in nine innings on March 10. … SMU's 6-5, nine-inning win over Elizabethtown was the Cardinals' longest game since beating Augsburg 5-4 in 10 innings of the second game of their MIAC doubleheader on April 13. … Michelle Carne (Escanaba, Mich.) went 3-for-4 in the opener against St. Olaf on Tuesday. It was the second three-hit game of her career — Carne also went 3-for-4 against St. Catherine on April 29, 2011. … Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) and Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.) each chipped in two hits in the opener. … Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) went 3-for-3 with 2 RBIs in the nightcap vs. the Oles Tuesday, while Raske and Melanie Hamilton (Homewood, Ill.) both added two hits. … Raske, who belted her team-leading fourth home run of the season in the opener against St. Olaf, has now gone 16-for-27 (.592) with four home runs and 14 RBIs in her last seven Game 1s. … With her two, 2-for-4 performances against St. Olaf, Raske moved into a tie for the team lead for multiple-hit games (11) with Ohl and Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.). … Raske has put together SMU's only two four-hit games — and both times, the freshman catcher went 4-for-4 with three RBIs. … Carter also owns a team-best seven multiple-RBI games, one more than Raske. … Raske enters this weekend's games against St. Catherine and Macalester hitting a team-best .433. She is one of six Cardinals batting over .300. … Raske also leads or shares the team lead in runs (29), hits (39), home runs (4), total bases (59), walks (8), slugging percentage (.656) and on-base percentage (.475). … Ohl, who is hitting .385, leads the team in at-bats (91) and is second to Raske in runs (25) and hits (35). Ohl also boasts a team-best seven stolen bases. … Carter owns a team-leading 21 RBIs and is second the team in doubles (7) and total bases (41). … As a team, SMU has seven players with 10 or more RBIs. … The Cardinals have hit seven home runs — with three being collegiate firsts. Along with Raske, Hamilton and Nicole Olson (New Brighton, Minn.) 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 131.2 of the team's 164.2 innings. … Peterson picked up her 11th win and 10th complete game of the season with her Game 2 seven-hitter against St. Olaf Tuesday. … Peterson is now 11-8 with a 5.13 ERA and has struck out 47 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 has outscored its opponents 154-133 — including 27-13 in the second inning and 22-14 in the fifth. … The Cardinals scored a season-high 12 runs in a 12-3, Game 1 win over Lebanon Valley on March 6. … Four of SMU's last six 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 is 3-0 in one-run games this season and the Cardinals are unbeaten (9-0) when holding their opponent to two runs or less. … The Cardinals are 11-1 when outhitting their opponent — their only blemish a 9-5 Game 2 loss to Bethel on March 31. … SMU's 7-6 victory over Emerson on March 9 was the 100th career collegiate coaching win for Cardinal coach Jen Miller.

St. Catherine Wildcats News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
Saturday's game at Saint Mary's is the first of back-to-back road doubleheaders for the Wildcats. SCU plays five of its final six twinbills on the road. … St. Catherine's 6-3 and 3-1 conference losses to Gustavus Tuesday extended the Wildcats' losing streak to five straight. … Three of SCU's five losses during their current slide have been by two runs or less — including a 12-11 Game 2 setback against Bethel. … St. Catherine was held to just four hits in each of its games against Gustavus Tuesday — with no Wildcat getting more than one hit in either game. … Alyssa Luedtke is the Wildcats' offensive leader, boasting team-highs in batting average (.495), at-bats (101), runs (27), hits (50), triples (3) and total bases (60). … Shae Elliott owns a team-leading eight doubles, while Kaitlyn Frank is the team-leader in home runs (5), RBIs (26) and slugging percentage (.610). … Jessica Kniefel is a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen bases this season. … Morgan Bohmbach and Sarah McLennan have carried the work load in the pitcher's circle this season. Bohmbach is 7-10 with a 4.67 ERA in 117 innings, while McLennan is 3-7 with a 6.23 ERA in 66.1 innings of work. … Bohmbach also leads the pitching staff in appearances (21), complete games (12), and strikeouts (62). … St. Catherine has scored 10 or more runs four times this season, going 2-2. On the flip side, the Wildcats are 9-7 when being held to two runs or less. … St. Catherine has played two extra-inning games this season — falling to Kalamazoo 17-10 in eight innings and dropping a 2-1, 12-inning decision to St. Olaf.

Macalester Scots News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
Macalester enters the weekend having played six of their last nine doubleheaders on their home turf. … Macalester's 4-3 win over Bethel in the opener Tuesday was the Scots' 16th win of the season — doubling their eight-win total of a year ago. … Macalester has now split its last two doubleheaders, winning 10-8 and losing 2-1 against Hamline on Saturday, before Tuesday's 4-3 win, 5-2 loss vs. Bethel. … Macalester had only one player with more than one hit in either game vs. Bethel Tuesday. Courtney Hussbaumer went 2-for-3 with three RBIs in the opener, while Miranda Stokes was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs in the nightcap. … Nussbaumer and Stokes — who each hit a home run against the Royals Tuesday — enters this weekend's doubleheaders against St. Olaf and Saint Mary's as the team's batting leaders. Nussbaumer is hitting a team-best .426, while Stokes is close behind at .404. … Cleo Nagy owns team-highs in at-bats (100), runs (23), hits (37), home urns (8), RBIs (23), total bases (68) and slugging percentage (.680). … Stokes has hit a team-high nine doubles and shares the RBI lead with Nagy. … Macalester has used five different pitchers, led by Amanda Knopf, who owns an 8-5 ercord and a 2.35 ERA in 92.1 innings. Knopf also leads the pitching staff in appearances (19), starts (13), complete games (5) and strikeouts (80). … Brittany Ehmann has recorded two of the team's three saves. … The Scots have played three extra-inning games — including an 11-inning marathon against Westfield State on March 16 — and are winless in those three contests. … Macalester has played in seven games decided by shutout, going 4-3. … The Scots are unbeaten (11-0) when scoring six or more runs, but are just 1-6 when their opponent plates more than five runs. … Macalester is 13-1 when outhitting its opponent and 10-2 when scoring in the first inning.