ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball squares off against Saint Benedict in a key Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-7 MIAC | 15-17 Overall)
at Saint Benedict Blazers (10-8 MIAC | 18-12 Overall)

Last Action:
The Cardinals dropped a pair of nonconference games on Tuesday, falling to UW-Eau Claire 6-1 and 9-0 in Eau Claire, Wis. … Saint Benedict has been off since Monday, when the Blazers dropped both ends of their conference doubleheader against Gustavus, falling to the Gusties 3-1 and 5-0 in St. Joseph, Minn. 

SMU vs. Saint Benedict — Their Last Meeting:
April 2, 2011: Mallory Betzold tossed a complete-game seven-hitter, striking out seven, as SMU opened with a 3-2 victory, while CSB took advantage of an error and a strikeout-passed ball to score three seventh-inning runs and beat the Cardinals 3-2 in the nightcap in Winona, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals close out their regular season on Tuesday, as SMU hosts Gustavus in a 3:30 p.m. conference doubleheader at the SMU Field. … Saint Benedict closes out its regular season on Monday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 3:30 p.m. MIAC doubleheader against league-leading St. Thomas

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule | 2012 Media Guide
SMU and Saint Benedict enter Sunday's showdown having played six straight one-run games. Both teams won 3-2 in 2009, the Blazers won a pair of eight-inning games, 3-2 and 7-6, in 2010, and it was another 3-2, 3-2 split a year ago. … Erin Stenseth (Eau Claire, Wis.) — the reigning MIAC Player of the Week — led the Cardinals' offense against UW-Eau Claire Tuesday, going a combined 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI against the Blugolds. … Stenseth was the only player with more than one hit in the opener against UW-EC Tuesday, while Hailey Ohl (Bloomington, Minn.) went 2-for-2 to account for two of the team's five Game 2 hits. … With her 2-for-3 and 1-for-2 showings against UW-Eau Claire, Stenseth extended her hitting streak to a team-best 10 straight. During that 10-game span, the Cardinal junior is hitting .576 , going 19-for-33) — including a three-game span in which the junior went 10-for-11 — with seven doubles, five runs scored and five RBIs. … Stenseth has collected at least one hit in 25 of the Cardinals' 30 games — including 10 games with two or more hits. … Alex Raske (Chicago, Ill.) is the team-leader with 13 multiple-hit games — she is one of four Cardinals with 10 or more multiple-hit games. Ohl and Paige Carter (Rosemount, Minn.) each have 12 and Stenseth has 10. … Raske has put together two of SMU's three four-hit games — and both times, the freshman catcher went 4-for-4 with three RBIs. … Carter owns a team-best seven multiple-RBI games, one more than Raske. … Raske enters Sunday's games against Saint Benedict hitting a team-best .405. She is one of five Cardinals batting over .300. … Raske also leads or shares the team lead in at-bats (111), runs (31), hits (45), doubles (10), home runs (4), total bases (67), walks (9), slugging percentage (.604) and on-base percentage (.446). … Fueled by her eight-game hitting streak, Stenseth moved into second on the team in batting average (.392), while also boasting 10 doubles and a pair of home runs. … Ohl, who is hitting .369, shares the team lead in at-bats (111) and is second to Raske in runs (28) and hits (41). Ohl also boasts a team-best nine stolen bases. … Carter is the team leader in RBIs with 22. … SMU has eight players with 10 or more RBIs. … The Cardinals have hit eight 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.) heads into the weekend having thrown 162.2 of the team's 204.1 innings. … Peterson picked up her 12th win of the season in Game 2 against Macalester last Sunday. … Peterson, who is 12-11 with a 4.98 ERA, has tossed 13 complete games — including a pair of shutouts — and has struck out 59 batters. … Peterson has started 29 of the team's 32 games on the mound. … SMU has outscored its opponents 173-167 — including 32-17 in the second inning and 25-17 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 3-4 in one-run games this season. … SMU is a perfect 10-0 when holding its opponent to two runs or less, and the Cardinals are 8-1 when leading after the sixth. … The Cardinals' 5-4, eight-inning loss against Macalester last Sunday marked the third straight extra-inning Game 1 in conference play for SMU — with all three games being decided in the eighth inning. … After collecting a 6-5, nine-inning win over Elizabethtown on March 10, SMU is 0-3 in its last three extra-inning games. … 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, 2011. … 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 7-6 victory over Emerson on March 9 was the 100th career collegiate coaching win for Cardinal coach Jen Miller.

Saint Benedict Blazers News and Notes:
2012 Roster | 2012 Statistics | 2012 Schedule
With their two losses to Gustavus last Monday, the Blazers have now lost three of their last four and four of their last five. … After opening conference play with four straight wins and wins in six of their first eight contests, CSB is just 2-8 in its last 10 MIAC games. … CSB's six hits in its 3-1 opening-game loss to Gustavus Monday came from six different players, while Kelsey McQuillan and Sarah Walch each picked up two hits to lead the Blazers' seven-hit Game 2 offensive attack. … Lexi Alm owns a team-best .436 batting average, while also leading the Blazers in runs (28), hits (44), triples (3), home runs (8), RBIs (21), total bases (81), slugging percentage (.802) and on-base percentage (.482). … Alm has accounted for all three of the team's triples this season, while boasting eight of the Blazers' 14 home runs. … Along with Alm, CSB boasts four other players hitting .300 or above — Lonni Johnson (.340), Walch (.310), McQuillan (.303) and Mackenzie Wenner (.300). … McQuillan has hit a team-best eight doubles, one more than Alm and Johnson. … Rachel Nelson and Trisha Johnson have been the workhorses in the pitching circle for CSB. Nelson has thrown 116.1 innings, compiling an 11-6 record and a 1.44 ERA, while Johnson is 7-5 with a 3.83 ERA in 91.1 innings of work. … Nelson, who owns 13 complete games in 15 starts, tossing four shutouts and fanning a team-best 79. … The Blazers have scored 10 or more runs four times — beating Bethel 11-4, Emmanuel 11-1, St. Catherine 10-4 and Augsburg 10-1. … CSB has outscored its opponents 109-87, but have been outscored 32-22 after the fifth inning. … Seven of the Blazers' 18 wins this season have come via shutout and CSB boasts a 14-1 record when holding its opponents to two runs or less.